Herbie Hancock
"Seven Decades: The Birthday Celebration"
Carnegie Hall - Stern Auditorium
New York, NY

06/24/10

Set 1 - The Jazz set

Lineage: CA14 > CA-9100 > Zoom H4n (WAV 44.1kHz/16bit) > ScanDisc > USB > Audacity (compression/normalization) > CDWAV (split tracks) > FLAC frontend

Track List:
(Approx 63 mins total)

01) ~ band intros ~
02) Footprints (12:08)
03) ~ banter ~ (02:04)
04) Eighty-One (12:06)
05) My Funny Valentine > Eye of the Hurricane (21:01)
06) Maiden Voyage (06:36)
07) Cantaloupe Island (03:58)

Herbie Hancock - piano
Terence Blanchard - Trumpet
Ron Carter - Bass
Jack DeJohnette - Drums
Dave Holland - Bass
Joe Lovano - Saxophone
Wallace Roney - Trumpet
Wayne Shorter - Saxophone
Lionel Loueke - Guitar

Recording Notes:
- Here's the 1st set/Jazz set...I got to the venue just as the show was starting and I didn't get my gear as "set" as I would have liked. Unfortunately, this set was recorded pretty "hot"...and quite honestly, I also blame Jack DeJohnette...he seemed to have an endless supply of bone-shaking thunder in his back pocket...I was totally unprepared for such an onslaught. Thus the Audacity tinkering.

- As with the 2nd set, the Bill Cosby comedy prelude intro was not recorded. Sorry for the completists out there. Suck your thumb and rock back and forth for an hour or two...it'll be o.k.

Performance Notes:
- I had to keep pinching myself to ensure I wasn't hallucinating the talent pool standing on the stage before me during this set. Any one of these guys has the rep to headline in any jazz club from the Village to San Fran...and here they were, a "back-up band" of sorts. The music they played this evening was a testament to both these musicians and to the birthday boy himself - Herbie Hancock.

Side Notes:
- Just on a personal note...like many other children of the 80's, I was first introduced to Herbie Hancock via his crossover hit "Rockit". At the time, I was an 8 year-old kid growing-up in the suburbs of Philadelphia, roaming the neighborhood every garbage night for refrigerator boxes to use for breakdancing. My breakin' name was "Crazy Spin" and my routine was set to "Rockit". This was going through my head as the band plowed through "Footprints" and it took all I could not to chuckle out loud. Since those early childhood days, I've taken the time to delve into all of Herbie's body of work, enjoying every period and every era. This concert was as enjoyable for me as much as it was a privilege to attend.

- At set break, I had the honor to shake hands with Esperanza Spalding, the 25 year-old bass prodigy that's been blowing minds world-wide since her explosive performance at last year's Newport Jazz Festival. No autograph begging...no douchebag camera-phonery...just a sincere thanks from one fan to the artist. Later on the night at the after-show @ the City Winery, I had the even greater pleasure of shaking the hand and thanking the man himself - George Wein. Talk about the cherry on the top of an incredible night of jazz legends!

- I forgot to mention in my notes for the 2nd set...Hancock came out for the encore rockin' the Key-tar, ladies & gentlemen. It's tough to rock a Key-tar these days...and it's tough to rock-out if you're 70 years-old...for Herbie to successfully accomplish both things and still look cooler than an igloo in a snowstorm...(((Herbie Hancock)))

Enjoy and support all of these wonderful musicians.

http://www.herbiehancock.com/
http://www.terenceblanchard.com/
http://www.roncarter.net/officialSite.html
http://www.jackdejohnette.com/
http://www.daveholland.com/
http://www.joelovano.com/
http://www.wallaceroney.com/
http://www.vervemusicgroup.com/wayneshorter
http://www.lionelloueke.com/

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