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Herbie Hanccock: Gershwin's World

 A l b u m   D e t a i l s


Label: Verve Records
Released: 1998
Time:
 67:18
Category: Jazz
Producer(s): Robert Sadin
Rating: *********. (9/10)
Media type: CD
Web address: www.herbiehancock.com
Appears with: Chick Corea, Jack de Johnette
Purchase date: 1998
Price in €: 15,99



 S o n g s ,   T r a c k s


[1] Overture [Fascinating Rhythm] (Gershwin) - 1:55
[2] It Ain't Necessarily So (Gershwin/Gershwin) - 4:46
[3] Man I Love (Gershwin/Gershwin) - 5:56
[4] Here Come de Honey Man (Gershwin) - 3:58
[5] St. Louis Blues (Handy) - 5:49
[6] Lullaby [Handy] - 11:03
[7] Blueberry Rhyme (Johnson) - 3:29
[8] It Ain't Necessarily So (Gershwin) - 1:24
[9] Cotton Tail (Ellington) - 4:43
[10] Summertime (Gershwin/Heyward) - 4:38
[11] My Man's Gone Now (Gershwin/Heyward) - 1:56
[12] Prelude in C# Minor (Gershwin) - 4:42
[13] Concerto Fro Piano and Rochestra in... (Ravel) - 9:11
[14] Embraceable You (Gershwin/Gershwin) - 4:38

 A r t i s t s ,   P e r s o n n e l


Herbie Hancock - Piano, Arranger, Liner Notes, Executive Producer

Joni Mitchell - Vocals
Terri Lyne Carrington - Drums, Production Assistant
Ron Carter - Bass
Wayne Shorter - Soprano & Tenor Saxophone
Eddie Henderson - Trumpet, Flugelhorn
Todd Phillips - Violin
Kathleen Battle - Soprano, Vocals
Alex Al - Bass
Cyro Baptista - Percussion
Martha Caplin - Violin
James Carter - Soprano & Tenor Saxophone
Stanley Clarke - Bass
Ira Coleman - Bass, Production Assistant
Chick Corea - Piano
Massamba Diop - Talking Drum
Karen Dreyfus - Viola
Kenny Garrett - Alto Saxophone
Marlon Graves - Guitar, Associate Producer, Mixing
Brian Greene - Oboe
Gene Jackson - Drums
Bakithi Khumalo - Bass
Donald Palma - Bass
Nardo Poy - Viola
Robert Sadin - Arranger, Producer, Drum Programming
Stevie Wonder - Harmonica, Arranger, Vocals
Michael Finn - Bassoon
Charles Curtis - Cello
Melissa Meel - Cello
Ronnie Bauch - Violin
Joanna Jenner - Violin
Naoko Tanaka - Violin
Eric Wyrick - Violin
Elizabeth Mann - Flute
Toby Appel - Viola
Marji Danilow - Bass
Matthew Dine - English Horn
William Purvis - Horn
Eriko Sato - Violin
Peter Winograd - Violin
Richard Rood - Violin
David Singer - Clarinet
Asmira Woodward-Page - Violin
Jennifer Frautschi - Violin
Cyro Bapista - Percussion
Cheik Mbaye - Percussion
Susannah Chapman - Cello
Catherine Cho - Violin
Sarah Clarke - Viola
Katherine Murdock - Viola
Clavin Wiersman - Violin
Mina Smith - Cello

Tom Cadley - Assistant Engineer
Dave Darlington - Engineer
Rob Eaton - Engineer
Clark Germain - Engineer
Brett Swain - Assistant Engineer
Bruce Swedien - Mixing
Brian Vibberts - Mixing
Todd Whitelock - Engineer
Mark Wilder - Mastering
Rob Rapley - Engineer, Digital Editing
Darcy Proper - Digital Editing
Jimmy Katz - Photography
James Minchin - Photography
Camille Tominaro - Production Coordination
Istvan Banyai - Artwork
David Passick - Executive Producer
Pete Karam - Assistant Engineer
David Swope - Assistant Engineer
Theodora Kuslan - Release Coordinator
Melinda Murphy - Production Coordination
Fred Hedemark - Assistant Engineer
Jason Stasium - Assistant Engineer
Robi Banerji - Assistant Engineer
Ron Martinez - Assistant Engineer
Robert Zukerman - Photography
Andreas Meyer - Digital Editing
Pedro Moreira - Assistant
Kayo Teramoto - Assistant Engineer
Tom Truslow - Production Coordination

 C o m m e n t s ,   N o t e s


Herbie Hancock - Gershwin's World (Verve)

Herbie Hancock : Piano (Organ on 5)
Madou Dembelle : Djembe (on 1&2)
Massamba Diop : Talking Drum (on 1&2)
Cyro Baptista : Perc (on 1, 4, 8, 11 & 12)
Bireyma Guye : Perc (on 1)
Cheik Mbaye : Perc (on 1)
Eddie Henderson : Trumpet (on 2&4)
Kenny Garrett : Alto Sax (on 2, 4 & 8)
Ira Coleman : Bass (on 2, 3, 4, 8, 9, 10 & 12)
Terri Lyne Carrington : Drums (on 2, 3, 5 & 9)
Joni Mitchell : Vocals (on 3&10)
Wayne Shorter : Tenor Sax (on 3, 9 & 10)
James Carter : Tenor Sax (on 2), Soprano Sax (on 4)
Marion Graves : Guitar (on 4), Perc (on 11)
Robert Sadin : Perc Programming (on 4&11)
Stevie Wonder : Vocals (on 5), Harmonica (on 5&10)
Alex Al : Bass (on 5)
Bakthi Kumaio : Bass (on 11), Guitar (on 12)
Kathleen Battle : Soprano (on 12)
Charles Curtis : Cello (on 12)

With Orpheus Chamber Orchestra

Arrangements by Herbie Hancock & Robert Sadin (& Stevie Wonder on 5)
Produced by Robert Sadin
557 797-2 Verve © 1998

GERSHWIN'S WORLD is Herbie Hancock's tribute to the music of George Gershwin that also includes compositions by Duke Ellington, W.C. Handy, James P. Johnson and Ravel.

Engineers include: Rob Eaton, Clark Germain, Todd Whitelock.

Recorded in March, April and June 1998. Includes liner notes by Robert Sadin.



The epitome of a 20th Century musician, Herbie Hancock has always traversed wildly divergent stylistic paths, finding his way easily into jazz, funk, fusion, dance-pop and more. His ability to make valid individual statements in all these genres is part of what makes his compositions and performances so rich. So it doesn't seem at all incongrous for Hancock to interpret the work of George Gershwin, redefining much of the Gershwin canon in the process (with assistance from some world-class compatriots). Hancock's stated aim for GERSHWIN'S WORLD is to get inside the pieces, illustrating their essence rather than knocking off rote versions of these standards. Towards that end, "St. Louis Blues" is transmogrified by the soulful vocals and funky chromatic harmonica of Stevie Wonder; "It Ain't Necessarily So" becomes an ominous, angular jazz vamp, with saxmen James Carter and Kenny Garret trading arch, sly interjections. Another genre-buster, Joni Mitchell, makes a case for a potential career as a jazz vocalist via her performance on "The Man I Love" and "Summertime."
With his legendary interpretive skills and masterful technique, Herbie Hancock could have simply given George Gershwin the once-over and still made a satisfying recording. But perfectionist Hancock is more ambitious than that. On Gershwin's World, he employs a star-studded cast, for mostly gorgeous results. Instrumentals such as "Cotton Tail," "It Ain't Necessarily So" and "My Man's Gone Now" are hotly handled by Terry Lynne Carrington, Wayne Shorter, Cyro Baptista and Kenny Garrett. More experimental performances are given by Kathleen Battle on "Prelude In C# Minor" and in Hancock's "Lullaby." The album's real highlight, though, comes in Joni Mitchell's exceptional, enlightened renditions of "Summertime" and "The Man I Love." Not only does she swing, she instills these familiar songs with real depth and life experience. The only sour note is Stevie Wonder's hokum wailing on "St. Louis Blues," which is as forgettable as a TV ad.

by Ken Micallef, October 1998



This ambitious and strident album from the multiple-Grammy-winning pianist is actually several different projects rolled into one: an orchestral Gershwin tribute with Hancock at the piano; a Blue Note-ish jazz session with saxophonist Kenny Garrett and a piano duet with Chick Corea; and a pop vocal album with Joni Mitchell and Stevie Wonder. Still, it is a remarkably cohesive whole, and a testimonial to Hancock's deserved stature as a jazz icon.

James Lien, © 1978-1998 College Media Inc. All rights reserved.



"...Herbie Hancock's striking tribute runs deeper and wider than most, clearly revealing Gershwin's cross-stylistic imprint, from jazz to pop to classical...a feat Hancock is familiar with--and adding snippets of Ellingtonia and other seminal jazz references for historical resonance..." - Rating: A

Entertainment Weekly 10/9/98, p.85



A winner of six Grammy Awards, most recently for his 1996 Verve debut, The New Standard, as well as an Oscar for his score to Round Midnight, Hancock enlists an all-star cast of collaborators and accompanists. Three vocal superstars lend their talents: Stevie Wonder sings (and plays harmonica) on "St. Louis Blues"; Joni Mitchell delivers stunning, smoky readings of "The Man I Love" and "Summertime"; and opera diva Kathleen Battle, provides magisterial wordless vocals on Gershwin's elegantly rendered "Prelude in C minor".

The instrumentalists are no less stellar: the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra supplies full-blown classical string arrangements for Gershwin's "Prelude" and Hancock's inspired improvisational rendering of the 2nd movement of Ravel's Concerto in G; Chick Corea joins Hancock for a freewheeling piano duo romp through James P. Johnson's "Blueberry Rhyme"; saxophonist Wayne Shorter contributes his inimitable tone and imagination to "Summertime" and Ellington's "Cotton Tail"; bassists Ira Coleman and Stanley Clarke also make their presence felt, as does the virtuoso horn section of James Carter, Kenny Garrett, and Eddie Henderson.

An impassioned student of both classical and colloquial idioms, George Gershwin (1898 - 1937) left indelible imprints on the sound of American music, virtually defining the Broadway show tune, composing major symphonic works such as Rhapsody in Blue and An American in Paris, writing the quintessential American opera Porgy and Bess, and etching a lasting legacy in Hollywood film music.

In similar fashion, Herbie Hancock has drawn from classical, jazz, and popular influences to make original music that has left indelible imprints on the second half of the century. Hancock's unique contributions to modern jazz, funk, dance music, and film scores reflect the same restless creativity and generosity of spirit that informed Gershwin's muse. In this year of Gershwin's centennial, Hancock's own musical diversity and expansiveness give him the uncommonly rich perspective which he has brought to Gershwin's World. From the opening "Overture", with its African drum extrapolation of "Fascinating Rhythm", through his final, profoundly individual solo treatment of "Embraceable You", Hancock probes the essence of Gershwin's genius, recasting the composer's original impulses in exciting new contexts. The generous scope of Gershwin's World is reflected in fourteen tracks that tap the same jazz, classical, and African touchstones so important to Gershwin - in Hancock's own uniquely variegated style.

But Hancock doesn't stop with Gershwin. The inclusion of compositions by stride piano master James P. Johnson, blues popularizer W. C. Handy, classical composer Maurice Ravel, and jazz giant Duke Ellington, opens a wider window on the world from which Gershwin emerged and the world he himself influenced. His music was deeply rooted in Handy's African-American blues tradition, and his own piano style owed much to the innovations of his friend Johnson and his Harlem contemporaries. In performing Ravel's Concerto for Piano in G, Hancock acknowledges Gershwin's (and his own) affinity for the French impressionist composer who requested a meeting with Gershwin on his first visit to New York. And Ellington's "Cotton Tail", is one of the most famous examples of how jazz composers created countless new tunes based upon the chord changes to Gershwin's "I Got Rhythm".

"This is arguably the most challenging project I've ever done," Hancock says of Gershwin's World, which was suggested and produced by Robert Sadin. "At this point in my career, I'm much more interested in projects that have the potential to be events, not just records. I want to do something broad-based that has the potential to reach into the life of the people in more ways than just their ears." That's what George Gershwin did in the first half of the 20th century, and, as the millennium draws near, that's exactly what Herbie Hancock does with Gershwin's World.



"Gershwin's World" ist eines der TopEreignisse des Jazz-Jahres 1998. Daher die Höchstwertung für einen wahrlich großen Wurf."

ME/Sounds 10/98



Gershwin's World is a tour de force for Herbie Hancock, transcending genre and label, and ranking among the finest recordings of Hancock's lengthy career. Released to coincide with the 100th anniversary of George Gershwin's birth, this disc features jazzman Hancock with a classy collection of special guests.

The most surprising of Hancock's guest stars is Joni Mitchell, who delivers a gorgeously sensual vocal on "The Man I Love," then provides an airy, worldly take on "Summertime." On these two tracks, she shows she has come a long way from her folk-singer beginnings to become a first class jazz singer in her own right. Stevie Wonder's unmistakable harmonica complements Mitchell's singing on "Summertime" and shares lead instrument space with his own voice on the W.C. Handy classic "St. Louis Blues." Jazzman extraordinaire Wayne Shorter smokes a solo spot on Duke Ellington's "Cotton Tail" and carves out some space for his soprano saxophone in the midst of "Summertime." A number of the young lions of jazz are featured on various cuts, and Herbie's old pal Chick Corea joins the leader for a piano duet of James P. Johnson's "Blueberry Rhyme." Gershwin's wonderful, extended "Lullaby" finds Hancock teamed with the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, as does an attractive arrangement of a "Concerto for Piano and Orchestra" by Maurice Ravel, whose jazz influence can be heard on the piece. In addition, one of the most beautiful tracks on the album places star soprano Kathleen Battle's voice at the forefront of Gershwin's own "Prelude in C# Minor." Yet with all the fine performances by his guests, Gershwin's World remains Herbie Hancock's show, and he plays magnificently throughout. From beautiful to funky, percussive to melodic, improvisational to tightly arranged, Hancock and cohorts take a wondrous journey through the music and world of George Gershwin.

Jim Newsom - All-Music Guide
 

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