With a place secured in the pantheon of the greats, Herbie Hancock is an educator, a UNESCO goodwill ambassador, a driving force behind International Jazz Day and the chairman of the Herbie Hancock Institute of Jazz. A child prodigy, Herbie has gone on to revolutionise jazz music throughout his long career, redefining the place of the rhythm section and pioneering post-bop as well as fusion and jazz-funk. Whereas the 60s were characterised by Blue Note and Miles Davis collaborations and the 70s were filled with adventures in electronic music and genre blending, the 80s saw Herbie return to acoustic ensembles, particularly his preferred trio format.
This 1987 concert, recorded at the Munich Summer Piano Festival, showcases one such trio, featuring the great Al Foster (another close collaborator with Miles Davis) and legendary accompanist Buster Williams (another Miles alumnus who played with everyone from Nancy Wilson to Wayne Shorter). Together they deliver three sprawling tracks whose texture and harmonic intrigue make for a spell-binding hour of music. Herbie starts with a composition of his own, "Dolphin Dance," from his seminal 1966 album Maiden Voyage, before moving on to a Buster Williams piece, "Air Dancing" and finishing with Cole Porter's famous "Just One Of Those Things."
