STILL CRAZY AMAZING AFTER ALL THESE YEARS
Piano/keyboard legend Herbie Hancock, whose trailblazing role introducing synthesizers and new audio technologies to jazz and funk make him one of the most influential musicians in jazz history, made it to Walt Disney Concert Hall on April 20 2024. A 14-time GRAMMY Award-winner, Hancock has been in the creative vanguard throughout his six-decade career, from his 1960s tenure in the Miles Davis Quintet band his epochal jazz/funk band Headhunters through his groundbreaking 1983 jazz/hip-hop hit “Rockit.” Fans at Disney Hall on April 20 were ecstatic with his high-energy live performance, which simply transcended the limits of jazz and funk.
Hancock entered the with a beaming smile, waving to the packed house with, “Hello Los Angeles! I get to sleep in my own bed tonight!” For this, his final concert of the 2024 Spring Tour, which started in Indianapolis back in March, he looked happy to begin his break until the next dates in August. But that doesn’t mean he’s slowing down, as he is LA Phil’s Creative Chair for Jazz, meaning he oversees LA Phil‘s jazz programming at Disney Hall and the Hollywood Bowl (the Herbie Hancock Institute of Jazz Performance Ensemble at UCLA will be at the Hollywood Bowl Jazz Festival this year), helps hire musicians, and mentors young artists. Tonight, the music legend and his talented friends presented us with a master class on the structure of jazz arrangement and musicianship, and it was a blast. In case you missed this one, or for those of us who want more, buy tickets now for Head Hunters 50th at the Hollywood Bowl on Wednesday August 14, when Herbie reunites for the first time in 50 years with the original lineup of Harvey Mason, Bennie Maupin, and Bill Summers, with Marcus Miller standing in for the late Paul Jackson.
Herbie Hancock, circa 1984 (photo Hancock Archives)
Gathered on stage with Hancock were Devin Daniels (saxophone), James Genus (bass), the great Chris Potter (saxophone) and Trevor Lawrence Jr. (drums). From my seat in the East Terrace, the view of Hancock’s dexterity on the keyboards was magnificent. You may wonder, why isn’t this reviewer listing the songs they played? Well, this is why you must see jazz live: for 95 minutes there were those futuristic sounds and effects from Hancock’s keyboard, and the musicians were constantly riffing and soloing, creating a collage of inventive jazz improvisation that blended seamlessly from tune to tune (including an “Overture” of greatest hits). It’s quintessential, improvisational jazz that is highly accessible. It’s also a love-fest of peace in a diverse crowd, old and young, some half the age of Hancock’s career.
Herbie Hancock at 84!
(photo from Herbie's Facebook page by Patrick Keller)
Not listed in the program was a surprise appearance by trumpeter, composer, and pianist Terence Blanchard, whom Hancock jokingly introduced as a “composer of oh, fifty or sixty film scores.” And he was on point, Malcolm X and Jungle Fever are only two from his extensive list, not to mention the opera Fire Shut up in My Bones now playing at The Met. In his own arrangement of Wayne Shorter’s “Footprints” Blanchard gave us the most exquisite, exciting, high tessitura trumpet solo I have ever heard. (You can sense the fellas were paying tribute to Shorter, the post-bop legend who died last year.) Of course, Hancock — ridiculously youthful at 84 — played with his personally sublime combination of jazz and funk, but his handheld Keytar keyboard interplay with Potter was the highlight of the evening already rich with consecutive star turn solos. While I craved just one familiar song with vocals, this jamfest led by the intelligent, exciting, and incredibly cool Herbie Hancock was amazing.
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