HERBIE HANCOCK Photo courtesy of Douglas Kirkland
Performing a sensational solo concert
S U N day OCt 30 7:30pm
Tonight’s performance is sponsored by the hotels of the Olivia Collection -The Oread, The Eldridge and the Eldridge ExtendedMemories Created-Hospitality Defined. Enjoy the performance!
This event is sponsored, in part, by the Lied Performance Fund. Audio description services and recorded program notes are provided through a partnership between the Lied Center and Audio-Reader Network. Please turn off or silence cellular phones and other electronic devices during performances. Food and drink are not allowed inside the hall. Cameras and recording devices are strictly prohibited in the auditorium.
Photo courtesy of Douglas Kirkland
HERBIE HANCOCK The set list will be announced from the stage.
H er b i e H a ncock – B i og r a ph y Herbie Hancock is a true icon of modern music. Throughout his explorations, he has transcended limitations and genres while maintaining his unmistakable voice. With an illustrious career spanning five decades and 14 Grammy® Awards, including Album of the Year for River: The Joni Letters, he continues to amaze audiences across the globe. There are few artists in the music industry who have had more influence on acoustic and electronic jazz and R&B than Hancock. As the immortal Miles Davis said in his autobiography, “Herbie was the step after Bud Powell and Thelonious Monk, and I haven’t heard anybody yet who has come after him.” Born in Chicago in 1940, Hancock was a child piano prodigy who performed a Mozart piano concerto with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra at age 11. He began playing jazz in high school, initially influenced by Oscar Peterson and Bill Evans. He also developed a passion for electronics and science and double-majored in music and electrical engineering at Grinnell College. In 1960, Hancock was discovered by trumpeter Donald Byrd. After two years of session work with Byrd as well as Phil Woods and Oliver Nelson, he signed with Blue Note as a solo artist. His 1963 debut album, Takin’ Off, was an immediate success, producing the hit Watermelon Man.
herbie Hancock
In 1963, Miles Davis invited Hancock to join the Miles Davis Quintet. During his five years with Davis, Hancock and his colleagues Wayne Shorter (tenor sax), Ron Carter (bass) and Tony Williams (drums) recorded many classics, including ESP, Nefertiti and Sorcerer. Later on, Hancock made appearances on Davis’ groundbreaking In a Silent Way and Bitches Brew, which heralded the birth of jazz-fusion. Hancock’s own solo career blossomed on Blue Note, with classic albums including Maiden Voyage, Empyrean Isles and Speak Like a Child. He composed the score to Michelangelo Antonioni’s 1966 film Blow Up, which led to a successful career in feature film and television music. After leaving Davis, Hancock put together a new band called The Headhunters and, in 1973, recorded Head Hunters. With its crossover hit single Chameleon, it became the first jazz album to go platinum. By mid-decade, Hancock was playing for stadium-sized crowds all over the world and had no fewer than four albums in the pop charts at once. In total, Hancock had 11 albums in the pop charts during the 1970s. His ’70s output inspired and provided samples for generations of hip-hop and dance music artists. Hancock also stayed close to his love of acoustic jazz in the ’70s, recording and performing with VSOP (reuniting him with his Miles Davis colleagues) and in duet settings with Chick Corea and Oscar Peterson. In 1980, Hancock introduced the trumpeter Wynton Marsalis to the world as a solo artist, producing his debut album and touring with him as well. In 1983, a new pull to the alternative side led Hancock to a series of collaborations with Bill Laswell. The first, Future Shock, again struck platinum and the single Rockit rocked the dance and R&B charts, winning a Grammy for Best R&B Instrumental. The video for the track won five MTV awards. Sound System, the follow-up, also received a Grammy in the R&B instrumental category.
Hancock won an Oscar in 1986 for scoring the film Round Midnight, in which he also appeared as an actor. Numerous television appearances over the years led to two hosting assignments in the 1980s: Rock School on PBS and Showtime’s Coast To Coast. After an adventurous 1994 project for Mercury Records, Dis Is Da Drum, he moved to the Verve label, forming an all-star band to record 1996’s Grammy-winning The New Standard. In 1997, an album of duets with Wayne Shorter, 1+1, was released. The legendary Headhunters reunited in 1998, recording an album for Hancock’s own Vervedistributed imprint and touring with the Dave Matthews Band. That year also marked the recording and release of Gershwin’s World, which included collaborators Joni Mitchell, Stevie Wonder, Kathleen Battle, the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, Wayne Shorter and Chick Corea. Gershwin’s World won three Grammys in 1999, including Best Traditional Jazz Album and Best R&B Vocal Performance for Stevie Wonder’s St. Louis Blues. Hancock reunited with Bill Laswell to collaborate with some young hip-hop and techno artists on 2001’s FUTURE2FUTURE. He also joined with Roy Hargrove and Michael Brecker in 2002 to record a live concert album, Directions In Music: Live at Massey Hall, a tribute to John Coltrane and Miles Davis. Possibilities, released in August 2005, teamed Hancock with many popular artists, such as Sting, Annie Lennox, John Mayer, Christina Aguilera, Paul Simon, Carlos Santana, Joss Stone and Damien Rice. That year, he played a number of concert dates with a re-staffed Headhunters and became the first-ever artist-in-residence at the Tennessee-based festival, Bonnaroo. In 2007, Hancock recorded and released River: The Joni Letters, a tribute to longtime friend and collaborator Joni Mitchell featuring Wayne Shorter (guitar), Lionel Loueke (bass), Dave Holland (bass) and Vinnie Colaiuta (drums) and co-produced by Larry Klein. He enlisted vocalists Norah Jones, Tina Turner, Corinne Bailey Rae, Luciana Souza,
lied.ku.edu | LIVE PERFORMING ARTS
Leonard Cohen and Mitchell herself to perform songs she wrote or was inspired by. The album received glowing reviews and was a year-end Top 10 choice for many critics. It also garnered three Grammy Awards, including Album of the Year. Hancock is one of only a handful of jazz musicians ever to receive that honor.
In 2010 Hancock released the criticallyacclaimed CD, Herbie Hancock’s The Imagine Project, winner of two 2011 Grammy Awards for Best Pop Collaboration and Best Improvised Jazz Solo. Utilizing the universal language of music to express its central themes of peace and global responsibility, The Imagine Project was recorded around the world and features a stellar group of musicians including Jeff Beck, Seal, Pink, Dave Matthews, The Chieftains, Lionel Loueke, Oumou Sangare, Konono n°l, Anoushka Shankar, Chaka Khan, Marcus Miller, Derek Trucks, Susan Tedeschi, Tinariwen and Ceu. Now in the fifth decade of his professional life, Hancock remains where he has always been: in the forefront of world culture, technology, business and music. Though one can’t track exactly where he will go next, he is sure to leave his inimitable imprint wherever he lands.
herbie Hancock
Photo courtesy of Douglas Kirkland
Hancock also maintains a thriving career outside the performing stage and recording studio. Recently named by the Los Angeles Philharmonic as Creative Chair For Jazz, he also serves as Institute Chairman of the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz, the foremost international organization devoted to the development of jazz performance and education worldwide. Hancock is also a founder of The International Committee of Artists for Peace and was recently awarded the much esteemed “Commandeur des Arts et des Lettres” by French Prime Minister Francois Fillon.
Parents! wo
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o!
Are you looking for a night out while your child has safe, fun, affordable care?
Has partnered with 536 Fireside Ct., Lawrence
To offer discounted, licensed childcare at Imagine for select Lied Series performances this fall! yippee ! While you enjoy the following Lied Series performance (and take yourselves out to dinner before!), your child can enjoy a fun, safe evening— including a free dinner! yu m my
!
An Evening with David Sedaris Wed, NOV 9 7:30pm Th e Li e d Ce nte r Special
5:30pm to ½-hour after final curtain • 12 months through 12 years old $20 for your first child • $10 for each additional child OR enjoy a reduced hourly rate Registration fee waived on performance nights! **Must register at least 2 days in advance.
Space is limited, so pre-register your child now by calling 856-2133. More info and registration forms can be found at www.imaginechildcare.com. Purchase your Lied Center tickets at 785-864-2787 or lied.ku.edu lied.ku.edu | LIVE PERFORMING ARTS
A salute to our VIP Sponsors We proudly recognize our Very Important Partners. Not only do our VIP Sponsors offer essential financial contributions, they also provide valuable and enthusiastic promotion of Lied Center performances to their customers, employees and the community. Their commitment to the performing arts allows us to provide education activities, free school performances and high-quality events each year. We honor our VIP Sponsors throughout the season on our electronic sign and with onstage recognition at their selected performances. We hope you will also thank them when you visit their businesses. For more information regarding our sponsorship program, contact the Lied Center Director of Development, Megan Poindexter, at 785-864-2788.
Elvis Lives
Open House and Community Arts Festival An Evening with David Sedaris
Mamma Mia! The National Acrobats of China Suzanne Farrell Ballet
FARFALLE (Butterflies)
The Intergalactic Nemesis & Chiara String Quartet The Celtic Tenors
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Herbie Hancock
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AnDa Union & The Chamber Ensemble of the Shanghai Chinese Orchestra & Jing Xing Dance Theatre
South Pacific
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A salute to our Media Sponsors
Media sponsors provide important underwriting for Lied Center performances. Their contributions give invaluable support for advertising, promotions and marketing. For information on becoming a media sponsor, please call 785-864-3469.
Mnozil Brass
An Evening with David Sedaris
A SALUTE TO OUR VIP SPONSORS
The Intergalactic Nemesis
The University of Kansas and Lied Center of Kansas wish to thank the following individuals and organizations for their generous gifts that made the Lied Center expansion project and Pavilion a reality. We would also like to acknowledge the outstanding work done by the architects, contractors and sub-contractors, whose planning and construction have made our hopes for a high-quality multi-purpose venue come true. Lied Foundation Trust Christina M. Hixson, Trustee William T. Kemper Foundation Commerce Bank, Trustee
Thank you
KU Endowment Dale Seuferling, Monte Soukup KU Design and Construction Management Warren Corman, Jim Modig, Marion Paulette, Steve Scannell, Bob Rombach, John Eye KU Facilities, Operations and Planning Doug Riat KU Information Technology Patti Fisher, Joey Marchie Helix Architecture + Design Reeves Wiedeman, Bryan Gross, Jacob Palan Mar Lan Construction, LC Gale Lantis, Brian Lantis, Fernando Velilla Acme Floor Company
Kennedy Glass
Acoustical Stretched Fabric Systems
KI-Furnishing Knowledge
Alliance Fire Protection B&B Drywall Company Beran Concrete D.H. Pace Door Services
Lawrence Decorating Service Lawrence Landscape McElroy’s, Inc. MSM Systems
Design Business Interior
MultiVista Construction Documentation
Diamond Everley Roofing
Oliver Electric Construction
Ewell Construction
Precision Masonry
Image Flooring
Professional Services Industries
Henderson Engineers
Prosoco Restoration and Waterproofing
R.D. Johnson Excavating K Building Specialties
Topeka Foundry & Iron Works Woodworking Specialties lied.ku.edu | LIVE PERFORMING ARTS
2011-1 2 Friends of the Lied Update
This list includes individuals and businesses that have initiated or renewed their Friends of the Lied membership since the original list was published. Business Friends Fellow ($2,500+) Bigg’s Barbecue Patron ($500+) The Janssen Clinic of Natural Medicine INDIVIDUAL Friends Benefactor ($1,000+) Venkata & Neeli Bendapudi Don & Carol Hatton Patron ($500+) Karen & Dennis Christilles Tod & Sidney Sutton Jan & Dale Willey Sponsor ($250+) John W. & Ferry Evans David & Diana Ice Lucy Price Contributor ($100+) Michele Berendsen John & Eliza Bullock George & Gloria Byers Janice & Robert Cobb Richard & Betty Colbert Robert Friauf William Sharp & Sonya Lancaster Adam Pousson Dr. Allan & Margi Ross Sharon Graham & Anthea Scouffas Charles Silvestri Lori Norwood & Doug Stull Forrest & Donna Swall Friends ($50+) Eva S. Alley Cara Nossaman Anderson Karen Hall Mary Jones Bruce Levine Earl & Dee Anne Waters 2011-12 Friends of the Lied Update
You can support the Lied, too! For more information or to join Friends of the Lied, contact the Lied Center Director of Development, Megan Poindexter, at 785-864-2788 or meganp@ku.edu or go to lied.ku.edu/donate.
The Lied Center is grateful for gifts of all sizes. We apologize for any errors or omissions.