Herbie Hancock Future2Future DVD

As a huge fan of Herbie Hancock’s 70’s synthesized funk output, I was extremely eager to check out his 2002 DVD, Future2Future, which is essentially a live interpretation of the studio album. The album had new and extended musical explorations of older songs like Dolphin Dance, Butterfly, Chameleon, and Rockit. I have always loved Herbie’s electric work; I started with 72’s Crossings and eventually ended up spending a lot of time listening to Thrust, Chameleon, Man Child, Return of the Headhunters, Portrait, Dis is Da Drum, Takin’ Off’, Headhunters, and Possibilities; on the acoustic side, I’ve also checked out a lot of his acoustic work and am currently listening to Gershwin’s World which is phenomenal; superb music, almost supra sensuous like a Salvador Dali painting but in white.

I’m also aware that Herbie had many more electric albums, but these albums still grow on me and I’m not sure I can handle any more Paul Jackson and Mike Clarke rhythmic allusions; those guys according to me were are the greasiest, telepathic rhythm section you’ll hear with Hancock; in Thrust, you will definitely hear some tricky material played on bass and drums but its always breathing, always grooving. In fact, Thrust deserves its own review. Herbie’s always had great musicians play with and they have all profoundly influenced his approach to jazz which is sometimes futuristic and sometimes moody but always looking forward; only looking back for timeless inspiration.

Mainly, I wanted to check the live band out; it was different from the album; Wallace Roney on trumpet, Terri Lynne Carrington on drums and vocals, DJ Disk on turntables (percussive??!!), Darrell Diaz on second keyboards and vocals, and Matt Garrison playing electric upright and six string electric basses.

Sounds like a party right? 1 hour and 44 minutes of everything including spacey organic post modern funk and tight tech bop; the venue was one factor that made it possible.

It was totally a party and no less at the Knitting Factory in Los Angeles, California; L.A.com describes it succinctly enough ‘Pierced punks, long-haired headbangers, and vintage-clad hipsters all make pilgrimages here for off-the-radar music—it's kind of like what the UN would be like, if it was run by Brian Eno.’ Buzzed responsibly, I set out to watch the DVD with my buddy who was kind enough to provide 4.1 surround sound (which by the way is not the best way to watch this concert; but is good enough). The multi angle thingie is a plus too; it guarantees multiple sessions of checking out every single detail you want to check out like what the hell is Matt doing with his right hand, etc in the DVD.

First things first, this live DVD is an interpretation of the music you will hear on the audio CD; it’s no less dynamic; the heads are mostly the same and the sections are all marked out clearly just like you hear in the disc; however, Herbie decides to let the band go ‘out’ in the many, long, dynamic sections and Wallace Roney is the perfect foil; I observed that he was akin to a narrator easing in and dropping out in all the right registers. There’s no doubt that he’s been tremendously influenced by Miles; his muted trumpet licks with an almost anonymous, gritty, moaning tone is quite similar. But he holds his own throughout the concert and like Miles, can mysteriously appear and disappear from the stage thus adding to his sorcerer like personality onstage.

Darrell Diaz does a good job; his fusiony keyboard solo on Chameleon is in fact closer to Herbie’s ideas although not the same. He also sings some fine backing vocals in the concert. Throughout the show, Darrell stays in support mode and this is a great aspect of his playing; he has numerous credits as you will see on his website.

The most impressive musicians in my humble opinion though, were the rhythm section of Matt Garrison and Terri Lynne Carrington. I had never seen these players live before, but I was aware that Matt had trained at Berklee College of Music, and privately trained with Gary Willis; the results have been amply demonstrated with his fantastic and mind bending right hand technique- rapid fire 32^nd notes and trills, psychotic grooving with his post modern bass sound both sub thick and with glassy highs, and a relentless mid EQ boost.

On his electric upright bass, he’s able to arco whale calls and add to the overall ambience especially when Herbie is playing some of that sweet piano. He can walk like a madman too. Additionally, Matt just can’t get enough of the bass; I saw him switch between six string electric to upright and instead of using a stand to rest the bass, he swings the bass around supporting its weight on his back and grabs the electric upright and just goes for it. Matt repersonifies the ‘Never put the bass down’ concept.

However, I must say that the P.A’ed bass output wasn’t too great; Matt does get lost in the mix but you can hear what he’s doing; you can see the class, the showmanship, you can see his father’s legacy (Jimmy Garrison, John Coltrane’s longtime bassist) continued with the genetic passing down of fundamental concepts of the bass such as support, time, and an innate confidence at steering the band through everything, nasty changes, solos, and all; Matt definitely turned my head and I’m currently seeking out more of his material. For his bass solo, Matt chooses to play some great bass chords, incorporating some tricky pull offs, and showcasing some flamenco hand technique in the solo; most importantly, he decided to take a solo with support from the able, and unbelievably mature Terri Lynne Carrington.

Terri Lynne Carrington put up a flawless performance dotted with innumerable classy and highly elaborate licks in the tradition of Jack DeJohnette and Tony Williams. She can also groove like mad adept at both electronic drums and acoustic drums; I have heard her jazz drumming on various albums but live, she’s something else; she’s got a great right foot, amazing dynamics- lush one second, frenetic the second, but always in control; combined with Matt Garrison’s tech time, she displays virtuosity beyond many of today’s modern drummers, coaxing be bop and swing tones from her dark cymbals and cracking a tight snare drum; she’s also on fire taking her solo on Tony Williams. Terri plays great support and her mature drum sound and approach defies tradition, yet uses all the great elements from it to make a whole generation swing.

The odd man out and the only maniac in is DJ Disk who was a member of the Invisibl Skratch Piklz from the San Francisco area in the 80’s, displays an unbelievable understanding of Herbie’s music and takes it places in this concert; he splices and scratches using turntables with modern sensibilities but with the rawness of the ghetto, the urban funk; he is in tune with the event here, which is a commingling of many generations, and from psychedelia to psycho-bop, he effortlessly seems to know the background and is always involved in the total growth of the track. On This is DJ Disk he makes sure you don’t forget him and even engages in a playful duel with Herbie on turntables; the latter’s turntable is a neat, smallish box that recreates the sounds he used in tracks like Rockit. The original video for Rockit is also in the DVD and though you might not particularly fancy the video with its Edward Scissorhands meets Men At Work shots, the music of course is still fresh and you can hear those turntables from years ago. DJ Disk brings the urbanity, the street vibe, into Herbie’s music.

As for Herbie, I think it would be best if you watched the DVD; I can only say that there are good reasons for why he is still continuing to break the barriers in electric keyboards and acoustic piano; there is a little bit of all the things Herbie does in this DVD; highly sophisticated piano solos in a total bebop rein, melodic explorations on electric piano, and a sparseness in sound that to me shows Herbie’s revived interest in ambient funk music, synthesized but in tune with the times. Herbie’s helping and collaborating with the pace of a generation much younger than him recalls Miles’ own pursuits with electric jazz.

My final remark is that I see Herbie Hancock following the groundbreaking, electric, often iconoclastic decisions that Miles Davis made, using younger musicians and often letting them lead and go places with the music, but most of all, practicing the advanced art of silence that Miles propounded; even with all that greasy funk around him. Despite the many Miles’ like moments, the concert is still an excellent representation of Herbie Hancock and his band stretching, blooming, percolating, and breathing with you.

Setlist:

1. Wisdom
2. Kebero
3. This Is DJ Disk
4. Dolphin Dance
5. Virtual Hornets
6. The Essence
7. Butterfly
8. Tony Williams
9. Rockit
10. Chameleon