Jazz legend shows his skills on the most famous stage in town.
Austin has been my home almost exclusively since 1998, but in spite of that, attending a live taping of the city’s most famous show has never been in the cards. That all changed last week when Herbie Hancock came to town.
One perk of working in the tech industry (besides a comfortable salary and the sit-on-my-ass-edness of it all) is getting access to company-sponsored events. The big ACL music festival was available to me, but I demurred. (My festival-going days are in the past.) The original television was a different thing all together.
Low and behold, the artist on tap turned out to be Herbie Hancock. Yes, THE Herbie Hancock. Look, I’ve listed to a little jazz in my day, mostly from the Hard Bop period of the late 50’s and early 60’s, but Herbie is only in my consciousness as a pop-culture icon and only from his biggest hits.
Still, I knew the show would be great, and it was. The Moody theater was opened up completely, and my seats were in the balcony. My understanding was the show only used the bottom level to create a more intimate environment, but I guess not. No complaints.
The thing that surprised me most was just how much of a real jazz show this was. The songs seemed to average almost ten minutes a piece, and extended riffs by both Hancock and his saxophonist/keyboardist Terrace Martin were the order of the day.
More than likely, those familiar with the tunes would have really enjoyed these solos, but even without that foreknowledge, it wasn’t hard to just sit down in it and enjoy the energy this group created.
Two things helped me tie the experience back to my interests. The first was the drummer, Vinnie Colaiuta, who I know as Sting’s former percussionist. Back when Gordon Sumner himself was my main musical , Vinnie was all over those albums and live performances. He’s a killer.
The most fun part of the night was hearing “Cantaloupe Island,” the backing sample of 90’s jazz-rap hit “Cantaloop (Flip Fantasia).” Yes, that song was silly (“Jump to the jam boogie woogie jam slam/Bust the dialect I’m the man in command”), but the trumpet solo was fire. Hearing the real deal was a treat.
All in all, a great night of music at a fantastic venue. Getting down there on a weeknight was easy, and I now have a new “Jazz Legend” to add to my listening queue.
All images by Scott Newton from the official ACL page.