Dan's Papers - August 8, 2008

With a career spanning five decades, jazz pianist Herbie Hancock remains fresh and relevant in today's ever-changing world of music, infusing elements of rock and soul into his brand of jazz to create a sound that's timeless and accessible.

His relevancy to today's modern world of music was especially evident in February, when his 2007 album, River: The Joni Letters, interpreting the songs of Joni Mitchell, won Best Contemporary Jazz Album and - surprisingly beating out musical heavy hitters Amy Winehouse and Kanye West - Album of the Year at the 50th annual Grammy Awards. River was only the second jazz album to ever win the coveted title. "I was certainly surprised by winning the Album of the Year Grammy," Hancock said. "It was a surprise to everybody on the planet."

Since the Grammy Awards, Hancock has been touring heavily. And he'll be ending a 10-week stint on the road - the Rivers of Possibilities tour - at the Westhampton Beach Performing Arts Center on August 17. The tour focuses on music from his last two albums, River and Possibilities, his 2005 album of duets with artists such as John Mayer, Christina Applegate, Carlos Santana and more, with some of his popular hits from over the years, including "Chameleon" and "Cantaloupe Island," mixed in. Sonya Kitchell and Amy Keys, who sang many of the demo tracks for River, take on vocal duties on the tour.

Since Hancock is a longtime friend of Mitchell, the head of A&R at Verve Records was actually the one who suggested he take on the challenge of interpreting her music and lyrics. "She said to me, 'I know you're a friend of Joni and respect her as an artist and a human being and recognize her genius as a lyricist,'" he said. "Plus, I wanted to do something more mellow, on the pretty side. I thought it could be interesting." Mitchell performed the vocals for one track on the album, "The Tea Leaf Prophecy," but couldn't be more involved because she was hard at work on her own album, Shine, which was released the same day as River.

The Grammy win brought more mainstream attention to the album - with sales doubling the day after the awards show. "When the record came out, it was doing OK - OK for a jazz record," Hancock said. "It got some great reviews - some terrific reviews. But sales were not terrific. They were nothing like pop music sales. Record sales are down, anyway, for all records. A Gold record is the new Platinum." Shine is well on its way to earning a Gold record, Hancock says.

There was also more demand for Hancock to tour with the album, and since February, he's been all over the world. He spent several weeks in Brazil, then, after a brief break, set out on his 10-week tour, which, he says, has been perhaps one of the hardest tours he's ever been on, at one point even having to perform nine concerts in nine days. "I do like performing a lot," Hancock said, "but touring is not easy. It's hard. And this was the hardest tour I've ever done. There were too many dates and too few days. This was almost not doable." Still, he says, "I'm playing with excellent musicians who are constantly creating new ways of doing this music. I feel inspired pretty much every night." He'll hit the road again in September.

Hancock is also already thinking about his next record, which he's going to call The Imagine Project, with John Lennon's song "Imagine" as the centerpiece. The record will be a global project, focusing on three major crises the world faces today - peace, creating a sustainable world and poverty. "Being a musician is just part of who I am," he said. "It's most important that I'm a human being. I read the news. The source for material comes from the times. People are writing about what's going on, the crises and so forth, the injustice."

The music itself will have a world feel as well, with Hancock planning to collaborate with musicians from various countries and cultures, including some indigenous cultures. "It will definitely have a world beat, but I'm not looking to...scare away American audiences," he said. "I'm looking to include world elements in a way that transcends the typical taste of Americans a little and finds the common bond we have with people in other cultures."

Herbie Hancock will be performing at the PAC on Sunday, August 17 at 8:30 p.m. Tickets are $125/$150/$175 and can be purchased at www.whbpac.org or by calling 631-288-1500. For more information about Hancock, go to www.herbiehancock.com.