×
Imagine a jazz CD bypiano virtuoso Herbie Hancock that isn’t entirelyor, in this case, evenprimarilyinstrumental and you’ll have a sense of where The Imagine Project is going. But it takes repeated listening tounderstand how far the 70-year-old Hancock has pushed the jazz genre.
Peppered with aroster of guest artists ranging from India.Arie, Pink and Seal to WayneShorter, Jeff Beck and The Chieftains, the 10-track CD features a vocal atevery turn. Unusual cover choices, including Dylan’s “The Times They AreA-Changin’,” the Beatles’ trippy “Tomorrow Never Knows” and, most unlikely,Matthew Moore’s “Space Captain,” add to the disc’s eclecticism. The oneconstant is Hancock’s elegant, understated keyboard work, of which there is fartoo little. Jazz for a new age may not sound like jazz at all, and perhapsthat’s the lesson Hancock wants to teach us.
Herbie Hancock brings “The Imagine Project Tour” tothe Northern Lights Theater at Potawatomi Bingo Casino on Aug. 20.
