The rain poured heavily outside on Mischief Night as legendary pianist and composer Herbie Hancock took to the stage at the Bergen Performing Arts Center on Oct. 30. The NEA Jazz Master, who brought the world crossover funk-fusion hits like “Chameleon,” and “Rockit,” was joined onstage by drummer Jaylen Petinaud, guitarist Lionel Loueke, Saturday Night Live house band bassist James Genus, and fellow NEA Jazz Master Terence Blanchard for an evening of exploration and expansion on a career spanning selection of Hancock standards.
Johnny Knollwood photos
It was an early show, with patrons still shuffling in as Hancock and his group emerged from the side of the stage to thunderous applause, but the house was soon packed full of fans eager to witness the concoction of sound that would emanate from the three generations of players onstage. There was Hancock — who famously played in Miles Davis’ Second Great Quintet — alongside Blanchard, Loueke, and Genus, next to Petinaud, the youngest. The group opened with an overture that contained nods to “Butterfly” and “Chameleon,” compositions that would be performed later in the night. In recent years, Hancock has typically performed an overture to begin his show, but the contents are never the same. Hancock and his band are masters of reimagination, pushing the overture’s pieces in new and exciting directions and setting the tone for the rest of the night. They carried that spirit into Hancock-penned tunes like “Actual Proof,” as well as a Blanchard-arranged rendition of “Footprints,” written by the late saxophonist Wayne Shorter, a longtime collaborator of Hancock’s. “Was that crazy for you?” Hancock asked the audience before taking a moment to introduce the members. He lauded each, referring to Blanchard as an “octopus,” because of the variety of sounds he makes with his horn, and calling Loueke’s unique approach at playing guitar a “special gift.” During the performance, Hancock raised questions about humanity amidst the increasingly divisive socio-political climate of today. “The is safe for jazz, it’s not really safe for anything,” Hancock told the audience as he introduced Petinaud. “But it’s in safe hands with Jaylen.” Later in the night, Hancock took to the vocoder — a device that manipulates vocal sounds through use of a keyboard — to continue his discussion on the current state of affairs. “People have had a hard time understanding me,” he said in a robotic voice through the vocoder. “But you don’t have a problem understanding me, do you?”
Legendary pianist and composer Herbie Hancock performing with his group at the Bergen Performing Arts Center in Englewood on October 30. Johnny Knollwood video)
“How many families are on planet earth?” he asked the audience. “We are one family, we’ve always been one family.” Hancock took the time to dig deep into this sentiment, spending roughly 20 minutes on the vocoder before returning to the keyboard, perhaps highlighting that his messaging was as central to his work as his art. “We all came from the same mother,” he reminded us again and again in so many words before returning to the keyboards and leading the audience in one last dance party — one last escape.
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