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Main >> Previous Updates >> September 2005 >> September 14, 2005 >> Article ID 8678
 A Song For You turns haters into believers | Type: Internet Article |
| | Jazz pianist Herbie Hancock imagines the `Possibilities' | Sep 14, 2005 | by Larry Katz
 Pop tart Christina Aguilera has to rate as among the least likely candidates jazz piano great Herbie Hancock would choose as a musical partner.
But Xtina is only one of the surprise duet partners on Hancock's aptly titled new CD "Possibilities.''
Known primarily as a serious jazz dude who made his bones playing in Miles Davis' illustrious '60s quintet, Hancock has ventured into pop waters before: He kicked it with his funky Headhunters in the '70s and launched the influential techno "Rockit'' in the '80s. But never has he gone full-out pop before.
On "Possibilities,'' the 65-year-old Hancock hooks up his jazz chops with the likes of Paul Simon, Annie Lennox, Trey Anastasio and Sting and new kids John Mayer, Joss Stone, Jonny Lang and Damien Rice - and, damn, he actually makes it work.
Herald: Christina Aguilera? Joss Stone? John Mayer? C'mon! Was this your idea, or some record executive's plot to try to boost your sales?
Hancock: Mine. I've been thinking about doing a record like this for four or five years. I thought through this kind of collaboration dimensions of these artists that their fan base and my fan base isn't used to hearing. Something beyond the pigeonholes artists are normally put in.
Herald: Mission accomplished. Christina's peformance of "A Song For You'' may turn haters into believers.
Hancock: If you listen to each tune, it doesn't sound like what you're used to hearing from these artists. Christina sounds much freer than I've heard her on her other albums. I knew she could sing. I felt she had never been given the opportunity to deliver the way she delivers on this record. And Paul Simon, you ever heard him do a track like ("I Do It For Your Love'')? And that's his own song. And you have John Mayer with a different twist. When Joss Stone and Jonny Lang sing (U2's) `When Love Comes to Town,' it starts off country blues, goes blues rock, and then this funky layer happens before I play a jazz solo on the end of it. Every track has a different twist.
Herald: You know some people will accuse you of being a sellout for making a CD like this, right?
Hancock: It's not my problem. People who have narrow tastes, they can like what they like. But I have this opportunity to be broad. The strongest I can be is to be honest to myself.
Herald: "Possibilities'' is being sold in Starbucks as well as retail stores. Does this mean you play Starbucks music?
Hancock: (Laughs) I was delighted to be involved with Starbucks. Everybody goes to Starbucks. Even people my age. |
 Source: Boston Herald | |
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