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The Fine Art of Breaking Ground: Herbie Hancock Turns 2 the Future Again
interview Page 2
Page 1 of interview
The most spectacular piece on the album comes in the form of "Tony Williams," a song named after Hancock's fellow '60s Miles Davis band mate. Williams, who died of a heart attack in 1997, recorded a track with Laswell several years ago that was to serve as the masonry of a composition by the esteemed drummer. When preparing for his sessions with Hancock, Laswell pulled out the fierce track to use as the basis for a reunion of sorts. Ex-Davis quintet saxophonist Wayne Shorter lays down a frenzied, emotional performance that is equal to the fire from the late drummer's sticks, while Hancock deeply colors the affair with multi-layered keys and vocalist Dana Bryant proclaims, "only once every millennium comes a sun as prophetic as this one—two parts be-bop, two parts rock; day and night equal." The powerful final product is chill-inducing.
Mt: What was it like to work with the recorded Tony Williams track? Have you ever done anything like that before, a la Natalie Cole and father?
HH: Once. I was on a Chaka Khan record where she did several tunes by jazz musicians, and she did "A Night In Tunisia." I played synthesizer on there, but there's this break in the song where Charlie Parker plays this furious flurry of notes and I played along with him on that. What they did was use Charlie Parker's original track for the foundation, and then when it came to that part—it was Dizzy Gillespie and Charlie Parker—I played along with that, but I also did it in harmony. It was a very eerie experience, particularly in the first take. Somewhere in the middle of playing my solo, I realized I was playing with Bird, even though he had been dead for many years. It hit me like a ton of bricks, and I had to almost hide my face, because tears were welling up in my eyes. Just the thought of playing with Bird, wow! This time, I got to play with Tony after his demise. I didn't feel tearful at all. Quite the contrary, I felt a lot of joy. Of course, there were tears of joy with Bird, too, but this time there was more of a smile on my face than anything. I knew that I was going to be listening to Tony Williams, because Bill and I had discussed it. He said that he had this track that he had recorded years ago and it was a result of conversations with Tony about Bill producing a track of his, but it was never finished. So Bill thought that it might be an appropriate track for this project and I thought it was a good idea, too. I was a little curious as to what my reaction would be. I mean, hearing Tony on record is one thing, but making a new record with some material…and Tony's on it, that's a whole other ball game. I didn't get thrown for a loop, and it was a great joy and pleasure to hear that sound and work with Tony once again. I felt honored to be able to do that again. And Wayne Shorter was unbelievable on that track. He was smoking! Wayne was the last element to be added to that track.
Mt: Did you record any of your tracks with live musicians accompanying you, or was it all overdubbed?
HH: Everything I did was overdubbed. I was never in the studio with anybody, but I think some things were done where there was at least two or three musicians together in the studio. I know that the tracks with Jack DeJohnette and Charnett Moffett were probably recorded together. It was put together in layers. The disadvantage is that there isn't really any interaction together, so you have to manufacture that interaction to make it believable. On the other hand, you do have the advantage of being able to design an approach to something that you've kind of pre-heard…and there's no feedback problems with the microphones [laughs].
From the song "Wisdom": "Knowledge corresponds to the past; it is technology. Wisdom corresponds to the future; it is philosophy. It is people's hearts that move the age. While knowledge may provide useful point of reference, it cannot become a force to guide the future. By contrast, wisdom captivates people's hearts and has the power to open a new age. Wisdom is the key to understanding the age, creating the time."
Mt: A lot has been made in the press of the symmetry between Future Shock and Future 2 Future, in that both albums look forward to the future of music and both feature the influence of Bill Laswell. One difference I see is that Future Shock seemed to paint a somewhat dreary picture of the future, at least visually, while Future 2 Future seems brighter in fully embracing what is to come.
HH: I totally agree with you. I hadn't even thought of that before, but I totally agree with you. Future Shock was more of a warning and Future 2 Future has an element of warning to it, in the piece about wisdom [a spoken word piece actually titled "Wisdom"]. It's a statement of our position, which is that we are not making this record in order to honor technology; we're not slaves to that, we don't want to be slaves to that. We want to serve humanity and use technology as a tool, but not be used by it. Aside from that, what was more in our heads when we made the new album is the concept of forging through and exploring new territory and encouraging other musicians to not be afraid to explore new territory. That's kind of what we had in mind, to encourage innovation and not being satisfied with your comfort zone, to go off into the unknown and create something new, if that's what is motivating for you.
Mt: Are you aiming that towards jazz musicians?
HH: I'm aiming that towards people, towards humanity, not even just musicians. Because this is about life, not about musicians.
Mt: I know you're getting ready to head out on the "Future 2 Future Tour." Will you be exclusively covering material from the new album or will you be taking a more retrospective approach?
HH: Not exclusively from the new album. We will play several pieces from the new album, but I have a whole history behind me and it only makes sense to play some of the pieces from my repertoire; what I have done in many cases is make new arrangements to some of my older pieces that more reflect the new direction of the Future 2 Future band.
Mt: What's on the horizon for you?
HH: I've got a U.S. tour coming up in March, of course, then in June, I'm actually doing some concerts with a band that was put together this past September. We put together a band whose purpose was to celebrate the 75th birthdays of Miles Davis and John Coltrane, and that band is myself, Michael Brecker on saxophone, Roy Hargrove on trumpet, Brian Blade on drums, and John Pattitucci on bass. So we did that for a month; it was fun. We really developed a new approach to some of the pieces the masters worked on. We're going to go out again in June to do some of the European festivals…maybe some gigs in the States; I know we're doing the Playboy Jazz Festival.
Mt: I just saw Brian Blade with Joshua Redman and he is fantastic.
HH: He definitely is, but he will not be with us on this upcoming tour. Brian and John Pattitucci will not be with us, because they are touring with Wayne Shorter. Instead, we have a couple of other fellows with us, the drummer for Roy Hargrove, for one.
Mt: Where do you see yourself in 5 years? 10 years? Still doing it?
HH: I hope to still be making records, but still traveling and touring, I don't know to the extent that I am now, because it's pretty wearing on your physical energy. I'm involved in some other kinds of things as well. I'm involved in the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz, and I work with students with that, and I also help try to raise funds for that. We function internationally; I've been to Egypt, India, Thailand, under the auspices of the Thelonious Monk Institute, traveling with a band made up of students from the Institute. I want to continue to still work in that kind of capacity. In a sense, mentoring young musicians, encouraging them and sharing some of my experience with them. There's also an organization called the Rhythm of Life Organization or ROLO, which was put together to further the use of technology in a more humanitarian way, using technology to be a part of a tool set directed toward social issues and human issues, the real kind of problems people face every day. Using technology that way, to be a part of the solution to those type of problems. That's a non-profit organization. Foundations give away money, but we want to collect money so we have something to give away [laughs]. We give it to groups and individuals who are using the technology to address social and other human issues. I hope to do more movie scores, I hope to do more work in the orchestral setting, some more tours that are more in the line that classical musicians play. I'd like to head more in that direction. At the same time, I'm still enjoying working with young people. Future 2 Future is young people that are inspiring me. There's definitely some give and take there. I'm working in a genre that they have created, but at the same time, I have been told by Bill Laswell that I have been an influence on them, particularly my work in the early '70s.
Mt: And that surprised you?
HH: [laughs] Yeah, I was totally shocked. I didn't believe Bill when he told me that. You know, until I actually talked to a few musicians and read some articles that I believed. When I was in Germany, I read an article in an electronica magazine where they asked 12 or 15 musicians who are some of the musicians that influenced them. And about 65 or 70% of them said that I had influenced them. I was shocked at that. It was interesting putting this record together, because I was putting it together with musicians who claim that I was a big influence on the music they're making now.
Mt: It all comes full circle.
HH: It is very interesting; it does come full circle, as you say.
Mt: Where do you see music heading in the next decade?
HH: Well, I'm hoping that the narrow categories of music are forced to develop activities that reflect a broader variety of music, so that people get exposed to more variety that they certainly are now. Radio is getting…broadcast is getting narrower and narrowcast [laughs]. It really doesn't encourage our young people to create in a very open kind of way in approaching music. It discourages that and forces them to create music that fits into these advertising funnels. That's not what is supposed to happen. Creativity shouldn't be following radio; it should be the other way around. It's not encouraging at all, it's downright discouraging. So, I'm hoping that will change, and it might take some of the newer media like the Internet and who knows what else that may be coming along, to give people more avenues for exposure to new music and more avenues to give them a broader spectrum of music to listen to. I want to be a force for that, if anything. That's one of the reasons I made Future 2 Future. I certainly didn't make it to get airplay [laughs]. It's funny, because if I had made that record in the past, it would have gotten some airplay.
Mt: One last question: Do you have any words of wisdom for younger musicians?
HH: Yeah, don't be afraid. Don't be afraid to expand yourself, to step out of your comfort zone. That's where the joy and the adventure lie.
by Paul Rosner
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