interviewer and organizer: Takao Ogawa |
MAGAZINE 01 |
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Quartet }
The hottest item this year is the Herbie Hancock Quartet which is on a large-scale tour this summer season. The other members besides Herbie Hancock are Wayne Shorter, Dave Holland and Brian Blade. This “super quartet” will be performing at Tokyo Jazz.
“We only had two days of rehearsal. That was enough. We had a superb combination
right from the beginning, and it was as if the group had been working together
for years. We, of course, know each other well. But this is the first time that
the four of us have come together. There is a fresh feeling, but it is not that
we do not know each other at all. This is a good set up with good chemistry.”
I heard that while Herbie was driving back to his hotel after the first rehearsal, he was so happy that he almost cried.
“At that point we had no idea what kind of music we were going to do. Each member is a so-called master musician, so I did not want to be giving them any type of instructions. What I knew was that the music that we were going to do was going to be something that no one had done before. I am hoping that in this band we can honestly express what we are feeling at the moment.”
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Carnegie Hall Concert }
I saw the quartet in concert at Carnegie Hall in New York on June 25. The quartet gave a superb performance overflowing with creativity.
“The repertoire that we perform on stage is pretty much the same. We may change a few songs depending on how we are feeling, but I think it was the same at Carnegie Hall as it was at the Playboy Jazz Festival that we played earlier.”
At Carnegie Hall, the concert began with Bill Cosby as MC giving a simple introduction of the members. The quartet played an original by Herbie, Wayne and Dave. I was surprised at the extremely fresh sound that could be found in the combination between Herbie and Wayne.
“I am happy you said that. Wayne and I before the rehearsal talked about if there is a method to get the same type of freedom even with the inclusion of a drummer and bass player. While the two of us were talking about this and that, I realized that the important thing is the process. You will not be able to acquire freedom while you are performing if you are intent on acquiring it. Freedom is something that is acquired at some point while you are performing. This was the case with Wayne and me. The reason we can continue to be fresh is that we have played together on many occasions. That process is important. The teachings of Buddha say to take two steps back and three steps forward. That is the way it was with Wayne and me. If you go forward all at once, somewhere you get stuck. More importantly, we advance to the next step while we examine our own performances. That is the process. In our case, we keep coming together and separating again. I think that this has led to the right process.”
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Program }
Herbie plans to play the basic repertoire that he performed at Carnegie Hall and other concerts at Tokyo Jazz.
“The first song will probably be ‘Sonrisa,’ a song that I first recorded in Japan more than 20 years ago. An additional part was later added to the song and it was rerecorded under the title ‘Trust Me.’ This time the song has been arranged for a quartet, but we returned it to its original format, so we changed the title back to ‘Sonrisa.’ That being said, the style of the performance is different every time, so I do not know which the original version is anymore (laughs).”
Herbie and Wayne went into full throttle and played beautifully from the very
first song. For the second song, the quartet played Dave´s original, “Pathways.” The
third song, “V,” is a number with a sublime sound.
“This song was released on “1+1,” and there are two versions. I wrote it together with Wayne, but he restructured it and arranged it for the quartet. So far this song as well we have played in a different format every night (laughs).”
Next the quartet performed “Footprints” written by Wayne. Herbie´s
solo at a double-time tempo was outstanding. Next was “Prometheus Unbound,” another
original by Wayne. This is Herbies quartet, but I get the impression that it
is a duo with Wayne. This is because their performances take place on an equal
level, and they play a certain number of Wayne´s songs.
“I think last we performed ‘Manhattan Lorelei.’ I also co-composed
this song with Wayne, and it was on ‘1+1.’”
The concert ended with this song, but there was of course a lively standing ovation with calls for an encore. The quartet returned to the stage and began to play “Cantaloupe Island.”
“On some days we play ‘Dolphin Dance´ for the encore. We have also prepared ‘Aung San Suu Kyi,’ ‘Memory of Enchantment,’ ‘Wood Sylph’ and other songs.’”
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{ Tokyo Jazz }
“I think the trend of the festival has become clear from the last two times. My idea is to have jazz as a base and broaden the range to include similar types of music and invite a variety of artists from all over the world.”
Herbie talked a lot about Tokyo Jazz, which will be held for the third time this year.
“There is jazz, and there is hip hop and vocals. There are a wide range of formats ranging from combos to orchestras. We have provided a variety of music including Latin and African music as well as funk and fusion, and we would like to continue to introduce different music in the future.”
Herbie talked about why he put together the program in this format.
“Various young people around the world often ask me, ‘I have never listened to jazz before, so what kind should I listen to?’ A lot of my fans are not jazz fans. There are a lot of people like my music because of my “Rockit” band. Tokyo Jazz is in no small way made for people like that. It is a festival that you can enjoy even if you are not a jazz fan. Then when people go out the gate to go home, they have become jazz fans. That is the kind of festival and the kind of program that I am aiming for.”
A big feature of Tokyo Jazz is the Super Unit, a part of the program that Herbie himself is very much looking forward to.
“This is what makes this festival complete. It is totally different from a regular jam session. There are often face-to-face meetings of stars, but generally they play blues or standards and take their solos one at a time and that is it. With the Tokyo Jazz Super Unit, however, I listen to the performances on stage and develop an idea. I decide on where people will be featured: ‘This artist goes here and that artist goes over there.’ We then rehearse before we take the stage. We put choice musicians gathered from around the world in the right places and perform a music that can be made only with the particular members at that time. It is extremely creative. I think that this in itself is enough reason to come and see the festival.”
(Plaza Athenee, Manhattan, June 28, 2004) |
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