One thing is certain about Friday night’s “Buffalo Rocks the Harbor” concert, the organizers should be proud of the outstanding musical performance made available for the large crowd at a price that could fit within almost everyone’s budget. Early drizzle gave way to a beautiful sunset reminding us that Buffalo’s waterfront truly has something to offer. Boats docked two and three deep along the dock, while thousands poured into the concert by foot.
Herbie Hancock, as a front man, has always offered an eclectic mix of jazz, funk based fusion and pop and on this tour, celebrating his 70th birthday, he sought to present parts of all of those various musings. Opting to bring two singers, rather than a horn, and a powerful, extremely talented fusion based rhythm section; Hancock’s focus was more on funk and pop than on traditional jazz. It was nearly an hour into the show before he showed off his amazing chops on acoustic piano. When he did, his playing was outstanding and a reminder of why he is considered one of the great jazz pianists of the post bebop period. For more traditional jazz fans, more jazz and less funk may have been desirable but no one could deny the quality of music presented throughout the concert.
Highlights included a grinding, slow funk version of “Watermelon Man” with only a whisper of its classic melodic hook, a driving version of “Cantaloupe Island” and a performance of Joni Mitchell’s classic “Court and Spark” which is likely the best track on Hancock’s Grammy award winning record “The Joni Letters.” Considerable time was spent performing songs from his new album “The Imagine Project.” Particularly stirring was the band’s rendition of Peter Gabriel’s “Don’t Give Up” sang with stellar harmonies and accented by African rhythms.
The opening act, Johnny Lang, strayed as far from the blues as Hancock did from jazz. Again, however, the band was superb and Johnny Lang, both in his vocal and guitar abilities, shone. Lang’s version of his hit “Lie to Me” was particularly strong surpassed only by the encore where Lang took the stage solo and performed a gut wrenching version of Muddy Waters’ classic “Forty Days and Forty Nights”-- his over driven tube sound controlled to perfection and his raspy voice dripping with soul.
Herbie Hancock, as a front man, has always offered an eclectic mix of jazz, funk based fusion and pop and on this tour, celebrating his 70th birthday, he sought to present parts of all of those various musings. Opting to bring two singers, rather than a horn, and a powerful, extremely talented fusion based rhythm section; Hancock’s focus was more on funk and pop than on traditional jazz. It was nearly an hour into the show before he showed off his amazing chops on acoustic piano. When he did, his playing was outstanding and a reminder of why he is considered one of the great jazz pianists of the post bebop period. For more traditional jazz fans, more jazz and less funk may have been desirable but no one could deny the quality of music presented throughout the concert.
Highlights included a grinding, slow funk version of “Watermelon Man” with only a whisper of its classic melodic hook, a driving version of “Cantaloupe Island” and a performance of Joni Mitchell’s classic “Court and Spark” which is likely the best track on Hancock’s Grammy award winning record “The Joni Letters.” Considerable time was spent performing songs from his new album “The Imagine Project.” Particularly stirring was the band’s rendition of Peter Gabriel’s “Don’t Give Up” sang with stellar harmonies and accented by African rhythms.
The opening act, Johnny Lang, strayed as far from the blues as Hancock did from jazz. Again, however, the band was superb and Johnny Lang, both in his vocal and guitar abilities, shone. Lang’s version of his hit “Lie to Me” was particularly strong surpassed only by the encore where Lang took the stage solo and performed a gut wrenching version of Muddy Waters’ classic “Forty Days and Forty Nights”-- his over driven tube sound controlled to perfection and his raspy voice dripping with soul.
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