All That Jazz
The legendary Herbie Hancock discusses his new album of John Lennon covers, producing classic film soundtracks and his ongoing fascination with cutting-edge music technology
Colm O Hare, 03 Nov 2010
Herbie Hancock is that rare thing: a true jazz legend who has managed to cross over into the contemporary music world while still retaining the respect of the community from which he came.
In the 48 years that have passed since the release of his debut album, the classically-trained keyboardist has kept one foot firmly rooted in the jazz camp while also exploring funk, fusion, hip hop, pop, soul and world music. From his early hits such as ‘Watermelon Man’, ‘Cantaloupe Island’ (later sampled by US3 on ‘Cantaloupe’) and ‘Chameleon’ , to playing in Miles Davis’ seminal 1960s ensemble, to his groundbreaking funkified 1973 opus, Head Hunters, he has consistently sought out new musical directions. In the mid 1980s he scored a massive hit with the techno/electro album Future Shock and the MTV award-winning single, ‘Rockit’, regarded as one of the first hip hop hits.
Over the years, he has operated something of a dual career, releasing straight jazz albums on labels such as Blue Note and Verve while pursuing various ambitious collaborative projects often with big names. His 2005 album Possibilities featured artists such Christina Aguilera, Paul Simon, Damien Rice and Sting while his 2007 tribute to the music of Joni Mitchell, River: The Joni Letters won the 2008 Grammy Award for Album of the Year, only the second jazz album ever to win the award after Getz/Gilberto in 1965. His latest album The Imagine Project finds him collaborating with a host of contemporary names such as Pink, Seal, Dave Matthews and James Morrison (as well as our own Chieftains and Lisa Hannigan) on covers such as John Lennon’s title track, Sam Cooke’s ‘A Change Is Gonna Come’ and Bob Dylan’s ‘Times They Are A-Changing.’
“I was looking for a reason and purpose to make another record,” he explains, on the line from New York. “I wanted to do a record that addressed some issues of today and I was thinking about the economic crises here in America. I was thinking about globalisation, which a lot of people were expressing fear towards. I wanted to do something to promote a very different viewpoint. The idea was about taking John Lennon’s ‘Imagine’ and using it as a springboard and making a record about peace. The Imagine Project really is about hope for a bright future, where we are all one.”
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