“I was overwhelmed with emotion and, frankly, speechless when I was told that I was selected as a Kennedy Center Honoree. This is a most coveted award. To realize that my name will be among those whose outstanding work in the performing arts I most admire is very humbling. I only hope that my being selected will be an encouragement to young people in, not only the genre of jazz, but in all the arts who strive for excellence in order to better serve the uplifting of the human spirit.”

Ravi Shankar teaches George Duke and Herbie Hancock Gandhi’s favorite song. Performed live in Delhi with Chaka Khan, Zakir Hussain, Shankar Mahadevan and Dee Dee Bridgewater. Filmed in February of 2009 with the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz commemorating the 50th anniversary of Martin Luther King’s historic trip to India.

Herbie will team up with fellow piano legend Chick Corea in Italy this week at the Umbria Jazz festival.

This Friday, Herbie will perform a very special duo show with Armando Anthony “Chick” Corea at Umbria Jazz  in Perugia, Italy.

The festival is celebrating its 40th anniversary – and Herbie and Chick are proud to bring their 40+ year musical friendship to the stage.

Click here to watch a video of Herbie talking about Wayne Shorter’s humanity and Buddhism in an excerpt from the forthcoming documentary by Brave World Pictures.

Conductor Vince Mendoza leads the celebrated Metropole Orchestra in a much-anticipated stage collaboration with Herbie.

The venue’s website adds this:

In 2004, the Metropole Orkest played a truly surprising concert with the legendary Herbie Hancock in the famed music venue Paradiso in Amsterdam. It was a historic evening that was much talked about. Later, with leader-conductor Vince Mendoza, the top-class Dutch orchestra played with stars like Joshua Redman, Al Jarreau, Gregory Porter and Todd Rundgren. The Metropole Orkest is perfectly suited to breathing new life into Hancock’s compositions. Reason enough for the American pianist to be thrilled with their earlier shows. “This orchestra makes my songs more beautiful,” he commented afterwards.

Help preserve the legacy of a living jazz legend and my very good friend, Wayne Shorter, by supporting the production of Wayne Shorter: Zero Gravity – A documentary.

You can learn more about the campaign and the exclusive rewards available (including a private dinner with Wayne and myself) here

Click here to watch a video of Herbie Hancock speaking at the press conference for the Second Annual International Jazz Day in 2013

We’ve uncovered a treasure trove of special vinyl editions of “The Imagine Project.”

You can purchase your copy today via Amazon and iTunes

Herbie Hancock will anchor this year’s International Jazz Day activities with a gala event to be held in Istanbul, Turkey on April 30th.

This year marks the second annual iteration of the event, and will honor the jazz world’s historic ties to Turkey.

Hancock told the AP that those ties trace back to Turkish Ambassador Mehmet Munir Ertegun, whose sons followed jazz music in the 30’s and 40’s.

The family would invite musicians to their home, to the chagrin of some U.S. politicians who weren’t comfortable with mixed race visitors entering through the front door.

As Hancock recalls, the ambassador would offer a terse one-sentence reply such as: “In my home, friends enter by the front door — however we can arrange for you to enter from the back.”

One of the ambassador’s sons, Ahmet Ertegun, went on to launch Atlantic Records and play a major role in making black music available to wide audiences.

The day’s events will culminate in an all-star concert at Istanbul’s oldest church and feature a lineup including Hancock, Wayne Shorter, Jimmy Heath, George Duke, Robert Glasper, Christian Scott, Marcus Miller, Lee Ritenour, Al Jarreau and Dianne Reeves.

Several satellite events in other cities will also take place, and the main events will be streamed live online and taped for later broadcast.

“Dave Brubeck was a pioneer, so many of us sprang from his incredibly creative and daring work. He even proved that a song with 5 beats in it and one with 9 beats in it could become popular, with Take 5 and Blue Rondo à la Turk. We were so lucky to have had him for as long as we did and will never forget his musical gifts as a pianist and composer, his kindness, his generosity, and his smile.”