Herbie Hancock @ Festival Theatre, Adelaide 20/10/2024
This was one of those rare moments to see one of the all time great jazz luminaries from the twentieth century that even at eighty four years young is still touring and performing shows on a large scale that still has broad appeal to audiences of all ages. The great Herbie Hancock played a show for the ages and this was an absolute masterclass who still is right at the top of his game, never missed a beat and is showing no signs of slowing down or a performance that has diminished. For any aspiring musicians learning piano and exploring the world of jazz the music of Herbie Hancock is a pretty damn good starting point and experiencing his live performance no doubt would fuel that creative ambition.
Even looking at the resume of this musical genius who has a staggering fourteen Grammy awards, inspired many, a career that has spanned seven decades with timeless classics such as Cantaloupe Island, Chameleon and Rockit are just as important today as they were when they were originally released. Some even say that he is one of “today’s greatest living artists” so it comes as no surprise that it was a full house at Festival Theatre for one special night of music. It was definitely one of those shows that you if chose not to go, you well and truly missed out on something quite incredible.
When you are as good as Herbie Hancock you don’t need a support, so as the crowd shuffled in to take their seats the performance got under way just after eight. The band took the stage with Hancock emerging last and moved to front of stage to introduce himself and the show saying that every night is different and that they would be going back to the beginning of time. There was a couple of funny one liners before starting Overture. Wow! An incredible composition which went twenty plus minutes showcasing the enormous talent and skill of this and the chemistry that exists between them is really something to watch. Words such as instinctive, spellbinding and flawless come to mind.
The performance appeared effortless and there was a sense of time and space allowing the band to literally feel the music and lose themselves in the music and essentially let this one reach its natural end. The band featured trumpet player Terence Blanchard (who has an incredible resume in his own right), bassist James Genus, guitarist Lionel Loueke and the youngest member of the quintet twenty-six old drummer Jaylen Petinaud with Hancock later saying that the future jazz is in safe hands with this talent.
The Wayne Shorter cover of Footprints was a stellar tribute to another fellow jazz player and friend who passed away last year. The jazz funk fused Actual Proof was a brilliant choice with Hancock moving between the grand piano and keyboards. Normally, I’m not overly crazy about solos but in a setting like this it was great to see each member have their moment to show. I don’t think anyone will forget Hancock’s experimentation on the vocoder introducing We Are All One Family.
Hancock said “it’s not easy playing with musicians like this, but it’s not hard either” suggesting that “when they lay their bit out it is inspiring.” The melody of Hang Up Your Hang Ups, Rockit and Spider was epic and the Herbie Hancock experience would not be complete without the appearance of the keytar adding another dimension to the performance. Really hard to believe that ninety minutes had whizzed by finishing on one of the most highly recognised jazz standards in Chameleon. The magnitude of this song alone was not lost on the crowd either recognising the beauty of this pulling out their mobile phones to capture some video of this defining moment of the night. Walking out I said to my son that was history, a moment in time to saviour and being able to say that we saw the legendary Herbie Hancock in Adelaide at the iconic Festival Theatre.
Live Review By Rob Lyon