Herbie Hancock’s all-star band, featuring Chris Potter sax, Lionel Loueke guitar, Dave Holland bass, Vinnie Colaiuta drums, Sonya Kitchell and Amy Keys vocals, will perform music in support of his terrific new release River: The Joni Letters (a tribute to the music and songs of Joni Mitchell). Hancock recently took home top honours with Album of the Year for the recording at the 50th annual Grammy Awards. The win marked the first time in 43 years that a jazz album has been selected as album of the year. Over the course of an illustrious career, Herbie Hancock has demonstrated resoundingly that he is a genuine icon of modern music. Few other musicians have exhibited the wide range of interest and mastery that this jazz legend has brought to his remarkable body of work. Embracing elements of rock, soul, funk, and electronica with freer stylistic elements of jazz, Hancock has frequently defied tradition while expanding the possibilities of musical thought. A classically trained pianist, Herbie got an early start playing jazz with trumpeter Donald Byrd and sax giants Coleman Hawkins and Phil Woods. After signing with Blue Note Records and scoring his first Top 10 hit with Watermelon Man, Miles Davis invited the young pianist to join his quintet. They would go on to become one of the most influential bands in the history of the music. Since leaving Miles, Herbie has remained active in both the electronic pop and acoustic jazz worlds. An Academy Award and 12-time Grammy winner, Chicago-born Herbie Hancock is one of the greatest pianists and composers of our time.
Lionel Loueke Trio
From the West African country of Benin, guitarist Loueke and his band mates — bassist Massimo Biolcati (of Italian descent but raised in Sweden) and drummer Ferenc Nemeth (from Hungary) — create the most unexpected jazz you’ve ever heard. Loueke specializes in lacy, virtuosic guitar lines set to complex time signatures recalling his African background, but he breaks it up with resonating jazz chord progressions and staccato solos. So far he’s been best known as a talented sideman for musicians like Herbie Hancock and Terrence Blanchard, but the trio showcases him at his most individual.
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