Herbie Hancock

Tonight we drove into Austin to see Herbie Hancock and Wayne Shorter at the Bass Concert Hall on the UT campus.

Tickets were not cheap; we had great seats about 20 rows back.

Before I write my review, let me just say that I have about 10 favorite piano players; Herbie Hancock is one of them and has been since I was a teenager. In fact, I just recorded one of his songs, "Dolphin Dance," on my upcoming jazz project.

Here's my review:

Short version: NO.

Long version: If I had known we were going to hear an endless miasma of aimless noodling and melody-free self-indulgent exercises in pointlessness, I would have stayed home and hit my thumb with a hammer for an hour. Only saving grace in both situations: it feels so good when it ends.

We left after an hour, during which we heard 3 (i can't call them "songs") periods of annoying synth sounds, arbitrary horn honks and aimless twiddling on the piano.
At one point I thought it sounded like a clown car driving through a piano factory. Being a professional musician and a piano player, I recognized his technique, but that didn't make the nonstop free improv any less disappointing.

If I want endless noodles, I'll go to a Chinese buffet.

We weren't the only ones leaving; there was a constant stream of people leaving the auditorium.

It would be like watching a 2-hour movie that is nothing but random fractions of sentences, spoken throughout with no plot, no form, no substance, no justification, no tension, no release... okay, there WAS release--when they finally stopped each of these tortuous ramblings.

I'll never spend another dime on a Herbie Hancock concert, unless I know for certain that he's not going to do another free-improv-fest.

I should also note that this isn't the first time that this has happened to us; we went to see Herbie Hancock and Chick Corea at Carnegie Hall last winter--I expected it to be one of the greatest concerts I would ever see. Instead, it was just like tonight--an hour or more of crap. I think they played one song during that waste of money.
If I were to rate this concert (and that's using that word extremely loosely) I would give it an F-minus-minus-minus.

What a waste of great talent.

One more thing: who do I see about getting my money back?

The first words a recall hearing Herbie utter as he took the stage to claim his much deserved lifetime achievement Grammy award from his "Compadre,Amigo,Pal,Partner,Friend" Wayne Shorter is "i'm not thinking of myself right now", but upon seeing his performance a question has been burning a whole in my head."So, what were you thinking of Mr.Hancock?" I wonder if it was the music made as you described with Wayne as moment to moment.Thinking of the following statements of hope and optimism made toward the music of the future to be made by jazz's youth only solidifies my puzzled state.I sat in shock in awe as two people who will always be a musical heroes in my eyes played no songs from either of their massive, prolific catalogs but instead a series of Darkly themed vague improvisations that I was completely unable to make sense of. If I could go back in time I can't say I wouldn't have attended the concert but I could only wish for an opportunity to question my heroes intentions as surely they could explain to me what I just experienced whether it was a melody-less,motif-less,progression-less,flexible-tempoed stream of conscious , or an honest representation of the future of a "Modern Jazz" music . Time is money Mr.Hancock,Mr.Shorter I offered you both I'd like to understand why.

He's one of the legends from the canon of jazz greats, so if you haven't yet seen Herbie Hancock: you really should. These days he still plays a bunch of jazz festivals, and still tours large concert halls and arts centres around the world – but don't be fooled, despite not being physically close, his music will make you feel like you're right up there with him on stage.

Herbie's in his seventies now, but he's still got it. He can keep pace with the best of them – and there's a good chance you'll be able to see him playing alongside other legends, like Wayne Shorter, Vinnie Colaiuta, James Genus, or Chick Corea.

When you see Herbie Hancock live, don't just expect to hear him rehash the classics – if he plays "Watermelon man" it'll take you a while to recognise it before that groove kicks in.

One last health warning: Herbie loves his keytar! He's got to be one of the few people in the world who doesn't look utterly silly playing one. When I saw him whip out the keytar at London's Royal Festival Hall the audience laughed – but he plays it as seriously and intensely as he plays a beautiful concert grand piano.

Herbie Hancock, the insanely talented multi-instrumentalist is considered to be one of the best jazz artists of the past decade. At a grand age of 74, Hancock continues to tour and perform to loyal audiences and when you see his broad smile as he receives standing ovations you cannot imagine him retiring anytime soon.

Luckily for the fans too, as you still have the chance to hear jazz classics such as 'Watermelon Man' and although the single has been reworked and developed for the live experience, it is still a firm fan favourite. The musician takes to the piano for a poignant performance of Sam Cooke's 'A Change Is Gonna Come' supported by the beautiful vocal of Chick Corea.

Perhaps the only man who can make a keytar cool, he reverts back to his companion for an energetic rendition of 'Chameleon' which gets the crowd clapping along. Let's hope Herbie will still be performing for the next ten years as he really knows how to put on a show.

A lot of (for me) new and improvised synth music and some old standards (like cantaloupe, head hunter) with a great playing band.

Big problem was that the sound was too loud at least in the front blocks (I was in B) of the Philharmonie, and at least in some songs not well mixed (drums too loud, bass a bit too intense). On one occasion Herbies was climating a synthesizer solo to a peak, which would be on other occassions a suspense peak, but here it was hurting due to the sound settings.

It was a great experience to see the band playing, and it could have been a great listening experience, too. It's sad that the audio settings were not elaborated enough.

I can't remember seeing so much applause and enthusiasm for a musical event before it started in years. Herbie Hancock and Chick Corea. Legends. Herbie asked if we wanted to start with something or nothing but it was obvious that they were going to ignore the vote and start with nothing. It soon became something, complex harmonies we were told just in case we hadn't noticed. Much of the music was centered around Herbies's back catalogue especially the seminal Maiden Voyage. A true musical experience even for the army of musicians that were in the audience

Oh' my, such an excellent performance. I sat mesmerized throughout the entire performance. It had been such a long time since I'd been fortunate enough to see Mr. Hancock in performance that I had no doubt as to expectation of an excellent show. I would hope that Dallas will be a destination for artists of Mr. Hancock's caliber far into the future. True Jazz professionalism at it's best.

What a gentleman...a privilege to be in the audience, with such a relaxed engagement with us and superb musicianship throughout. With his old friend Chick Corea, we were witness to a special performance, which briefly touched upon so many facets of their repertoire and skills. Thanks again.

Amazing opportunity to attend a performance of this genius of jazz and more than jazz. Herbie made a great performance full of good vibes, playing his most important creations in this wrapping atmosphere at the Barbican center.

All of them were AMAZING musicians but the best part was the end; 10 minutes of funky fun!
The rest was too jazz hypnotic.
Maybe for this tour you would need some "magic pens" smoke to connect more.