Certainly, jazz is not an area of music I can profess much knowledge of. However, on Thursday night I found myself at Birmingham Symphony Hall, observing one of the great masters of the genre, Mr. Herbert Jeffrey Hancock, perform with his sextet.The prefix 'progressive', when applied to music, has never provoked the same instant horror in me that it does for many. Progression means invention, creation, new ideas. But, as with any experiment, some things work and some things don't.
Herbie's band - comprising bass, drums, guitar, harmonica, trumpet, and the man himself on keys - played for three hours, and despite occasional moments of brilliance, it was tricky to completely follow.
This can probably be attributed to the fact that I am no jazzhead. But some parts of the performance were more accessible than others. The band twisted and strained sections of 1964 standard Cantaloupe Island every which way, but the killer hooks were all there, and still strong enough to draw in any open-minded music fan.
The band represented something of a jazz supergroup. Lionel Loueke was always good value. Born in Benin, West Africa, he blended spacey funk licks with tribal rhythms and scat singing, summoning clicks, yelps, and animal growls. Occasionally this provoked titters of laughter from the audience - perhaps unintended, but a welcome respite from the relentless intensity of Hancock's foraging blues. Given a mid-set solo section, Loueke made his guitar sound like dozens of people popping bubble wrap inside a giant milk bottle.
Kendrick Scott is a beast of a drummer. Dextrous, assured, and creative, it was the sticksman who kept the wagon rolling when others momentarily lost each other. His rattling, snarling snare style occasionally suggested a man who wouldn't be out of place drumming for Tool.
Without doubt, this is mightily impressive music, and even at 68 Hancock is still keen to explore new avenues. But after 180 minutes of freeform jazz, the three-chord pop punk on my iPod never sounded so good.
2 comments:
Nice blog! Might have to check out his music at some point, sounds intriguing!
Your defintely covering all genres of music, can't beat original classic jazz. He looks unbelievably young for 68, whats his music like from his younger days?
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