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Peter Gabriel is a man obviously fascinated by primates. The artist who once sang "Shock the Monkey" is now teaching a troupe of bonobo apes to play keyboards. "Peter has long believed that we have underestimated the intelligence of the primates and he has begun working with the Atlantic Language Research Center on this," Caroline Turner, his London publicist, said. "However, the project is absolutely in its infancy."
Gabriel told London's Financial Times last month that he has spent time at Georgia State University in Atlanta teaching the apes. "It is a little like working with a child," Gabriel told the paper. The apes understand about 4,000 English words and recognize 400 pictograms, according to Gabriel. They also have a keen sense of rhythm and melody.Gabriel may not have an ape album on his Real World release schedule quite yet, but he has been showing off the project to his peers.

"When he first started telling me about it, I said 'You've told me about some out-there type stuff before, but this takes the cake,' " recalled BT, who collaborated with Gabriel on music for London's Millennium Dome project. The Maryland producer, who plans to feature Gabriel on his next album, was recently introduced to one of Gabriel's new female companions. "The story about it is unbelievable," BT said. "She speaks sign language.