Have you started your International Jazz Day shopping yet?

A global collaboration among the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), Herbie Hancock and the Thelonious Monk Institute, the first International Jazz Day is scheduled for Monday. Envisioned as a day of education and performance, the celebration actually begins Friday with a concert in Paris that features jazz luminaries such as Hancock, Hugh Masekela and Terri Lyne Carrington.

The day itself aims to deliver 24 hours of jazz around the world, including in Los Angeles with a jazz session at Herb Alpert’s club Vibrato in Bel-Air on Monday night featuring a variety of local artists, including Anthony Wilson, Bob Sheppard and Peter Erskine.

The day begins with a sunrise concert at the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival and closes at sunset with another all-star show at the U.N. General Assembly Hall. Both shows will feature the day’s mastermind, Hancock, who is also the Los Angeles Philharmonic’s creative chair for jazz.

How did International Jazz Day come together?

Last year I was appointed goodwill ambassador to UNESCO, and the first proposal that I made was for UNESCO to establish an international jazz day. And it was unanimously approved by all 195 member nations. They were very excited about it; it went through without a hitch. And there are a lot of jazz fans who are ambassadors to UNESCO too, by the way. One guy who’s the ambassador from Sri Lanka? Huge jazz fan. And you think, Sri Lanka, how’s that possible?

What made you feel that now was the time for an international jazz day?

Actually, it’s an annual event, this is just the first. April 30 from now on will be International Jazz Day; this is serious. I guess you could compare it to a holiday — a day of celebration that will be an annual recognition of jazz as an international music, of course born in America.

One of the goals listed for the day was to emphasize the cultural exchange with the music around the world. But what is it about jazz that makes it especially well suited to that?

Well, look at the history of jazz and the role that it played in instilling hope for freedom during the second World War. In a film I was involved in, “‘Round Midnight,” one of the main characters was this Frenchman who had gone to war, and jazz was the music that saved him. What happened was he went AWOL, and his whole troop got wiped out, but he’s alive because he left. And he attributes jazz to saving his life…. People feel the freedom in the music.

As you think about the day, what do you hope is gained as of May 1? Is it about gaining new fans or galvanizing existing ones?

First of all, just the recognition by the planet that jazz is a music to celebrate. That it’s a great music to recognize as being truly international and truly a positive diplomatic force because of its cultural contributions.

Does jazz seem as healthy as ever right now?

It is, in the most important ways. I’m seeing so many young people that are involved with jazz, with jazz bands either in their high school or some other organization. They’re popping up everywhere. Teenagers, already improvising. It’s not going away. We may not hear it that much on the radio or see it that much on television, but it’s happening. It’s absolutely happening. And judging from what I’ve heard from the creative output of some of these young people, the future looks very bright for jazz.

There’s an incredible number of people playing in New York, New Orleans and Paris — how did you pull people together for that?

It was through the work of the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz because I’ve been involved with that from the beginning, but also the president, Tom Carter, who has produced various shows in the past for the institute. We were so thrilled that the U.N. agreed to having the space there to host the event … it really is an historic event.

You’re performing two shows in one day, one in New Orleans and the other in New York City. Have you ever done anything like that before?

I don’t think so.

You’re going to be a busy man.

Oh, yeah. (Laughs) So what else is new?

Click here to read the original source article via the Los Angeles Times

Viking has acquired the right to release Herbie Hancock’s memoirs in a book deal that will see the book released in the fall of 2014.

“We are proud to have as distinguished and articulate a musician as Herbie Hancock join Viking’s music list, ” said Clare Ferraro, president of Viking. “There are few artists in any genre who have had a career as rich and influential as Mr. Hancock’s, and his memoir promises to be not only the record of a remarkable life and career but a singular chronicle of one of the most fertile periods in the development of jazz.”

The renowned jazz pianist’s first major initiative since being named a UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador last July is to establish International Jazz Day to be held on April 30 of every year.

This year’s inaugural event – organized by the U.N. Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization in partnership with the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz, which Hancock chairs – will include star-studded concerts in Paris, New Orleans and New York as well as jazz-related events in several dozen countries from Algeria to Uruguay. Hancock said he had little difficulty lining up support for his proposal from the 195-member U.N. cultural organization “because so many countries have been affected in crucial ways over the years by the presence of jazz.” “Jazz has been the voice of freedom for so many countries over the past half century,” Hancock said in a telephone interview ahead of Tuesday’s official announcement of International Jazz Day.

“This is really about the international diplomatic aspect of jazz and how it has throughout a major part of its history been a major force in bringing people of various countries and cultures together.”

UNESCO Director-General Irina Bokova endorsed the initiative. In a statement, she said International Jazz Day is intended to bring together people all over the world “to celebrate and learn more about the art of jazz, its roots and its impact, and to highlight its important role as a means of communication that transcends differences.”

The official kick-off will be on April 27 with an all-day program at UNESCO Headquarters in Paris that will include master classes, roundtable discussions and improvisational workshops. An evening concert will feature Hancock, Dee Dee Bridgewater, South Africa’s Hugh Masekela and Brazil’s Tania Maria, among others.

Hancock will begin the April 30 celebrations with a sunrise concert at New Orleans’ Congo Square, the birthplace of jazz, which comes right after the first weekend of the city’s Jazz and Heritage Festival.

The concert will present local jazz luminaries Terence Blanchard, Ellis Marsalis, Dr. Michael White, Kermit Ruffins and the Treme Brass Brand. Hancock plans to perform his funky standard “Watermelon Man” with high school students from around the world via an Internet link.

He then will fly to New York for a sunset all-star jazz concert for the international diplomatic corps at the U.N. General Assembly Hall to be hosted by Morgan Freeman, Robert DeNiro, Michael Douglas and Quincy Jones. The concert will be streamed live via the U.N. and UNESCO websites.

Its lineup already includes Hancock, Bridgewater, Wynton Marsalis, Wayne Shorter, Christian McBride, Esperanza Spalding, Jack DeJohnette, Derek Trucks, Susan Tedeschi and Jimmy Heath. The Americans will be joined by an international cast of musicians spanning different genres, including Richard Bona (Cameroon), Hiromi Uehara (Japan), Zakir Hussain (India), Angelique Kidjo (Benin), Lang Lang (China), and Romero Lubambo (Brazil).

Hancock sees his latest initiative as an extension of his 2010 CD, the double Grammy-winning “The Imagine Project,” a globe-trotting, genre-mixing effort that featured a United Nations of pop and world music stars from 10 countries.

“UNESCO unanimously agreed to designate April 30 as International Jazz Day to celebrate jazz music as a rich cultural heritage, a product of cultural collaboration, and a universal language of tolerance and freedom.” – Herbie Hancock

Herbie Hancock performs in a special crowd-sourced video featuring footage from Canon’s 7D and 5D MK II cameras.

Click here to watch the video
From Canon:

The crowd-sourced video features the music of legendary jazz great, Herbie Hancock and his now-classic hit, “Chameleon.” The song was written in collaboration with Bennie Maupin, Paul Jackson and Harvey Mason and was originally performed in the 1973 album “Head Hunters” released by Columbia Records.

“Chameleon” has become one of the world’s most recognized jazz melodies, and combined with breathtaking imagery from Canon, has resulted in a work that may just offer some of the most entertaining few minutes you can spend on the CES show floor.

Over 1,800 hi-res images were taken by attendees at Canon’s “Legends in Imaging” concert in October of 2011 with the Canon EOS7D and EOS 5D Mark 11 cameras. Hancock performed at the event and Canon took the images shot by their guests, printed them with the Pixma Pro-1 professional printer and edited them in post using time-lapse and traditional stop-motion film techniques.

Los Angeles Philharmonic Music Director Gustavo Dudamel and Creative Chair for Jazz Herbie Hancock launched the LA Phil’s 2011/12 season with a sparkling George Gershwin gala.

Herbie Hancock, Gustavo Dudamel and the LA Phil Celebrate Gershwin, featuring that classic piece as well as “An American in Paris” and Hancock’s unique improvisation on the great standard “Someone to Watch Over Me,” airs on THIRTEEN’s Great Performances Friday, January 6 at 9 p.m. on PBS.

Gustavo Dudamel conducts the LA Phil in George Gershwin’s “An American in Paris” in the performance recorded for Herbie Hancock, Gustavo Dudamel and The LA Phil Celebrate Gershwin.

Click here to watch the video via PBS

Herbie and his band will be playing during the second weekend of New Orleans Jazz Fest (May 3-6).

We have also recently announced a series of twelve shows this March, a few of which have VIP packages available, you can check out the full list on the Tour page.

The “Sting 25” app is now available for (free) download in the iTunes store. It includes a performance of Sting and Herbie’s collaboration of “Consider Me Gone” from Sting’s Birthday show at the Beacon Theatre on October 1st.

Click here to explore in the App Store.

Jeffrey Brown catches up with music legend Herbie Hancock, who celebrated his 70th birthday earlier this year and is touring in support of his latest album “The Imagine Project.”

Click here to watch the full video

JIM LEHRER: Finally tonight: A jazz legend embraces a world of music. Jeffrey Brown has our report.

JEFFREY BROWN: There’s this Herbie Hancock, composer and performer of numerous jazz standards, and there’s this Herbie Hancock, an electric keyboard slung over his shoulder for one of his fusion hits.

But don’t try this “tale of two Herbies” theme on the man himself.

HERBIE HANCOCK, musician:I’m the same guy.

(LAUGHTER)

HERBIE HANCOCK: I just express myself in any way I feel is appropriate at the moment. I don’t wear the same clothes every day, you know? Actually, in a way, I do.

(LAUGHTER)

JEFFREY BROWN: Now 70, Hancock recently performed at a star-studded concert at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles that celebrated his birthday, his life in music, and his most recent endeavor, “The Imagine Project,” an ambitious album recorded with more than 60 artists in seven different countries, an attempt, he says, to have music make people think in a new way about globalization.

HERBIE HANCOCK: The idea was a very lofty idea.

JEFFREY BROWN: It was a great idea, but then you had to go make it happen.

HERBIE HANCOCK: Yes, right.

(LAUGHTER)

HERBIE HANCOCK: That was a lot harder.

JEFFREY BROWN: Hancock traveled the world to work with leading musicians of disparate styles, including sitar player Anoushka Shankar in India, the Chieftains in Ireland, and Colombian Latin music star Juanes.

When we talked at his Los Angeles home recently, Hancock said he wanted to show that musical collaboration can help people think about ways to deal with global problems.

HERBIE HANCOCK: As a human being, I’m concerned about the world that I live in.So, I’m concerned about peace.I’m concerned about — about man’s inhumanity to man.I’m concerned about the environment.

I don’t go around, the way many musicians do, with earbuds in my ear listening to my iPod all day and just sticking my head in the music all the time.

JEFFREY BROWN: Herbie Hancock’s own musical journey began as a boy in Chicago.Classically trained, he was good enough to perform with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra at a youth concert at age 11.

Turning to jazz, Hancock gained sudden and international fame in his early 20s with his first great collaborator and mentor, Miles Davis.An early lesson came at a concert in Europe.At first, Hancock says, everything was going right.

HERBIE HANCOCK: We had the audience in the palm of our hands. And right as everything was really peaking, and Miles was soloing, I played this chord, and it was completely wrong.

(LAUGHTER)

HERBIE HANCOCK: And Miles took a breath and then played some notes, and the notes made my chord right.

JEFFREY BROWN: The notes made your chord right?

HERBIE HANCOCK: Yes.Somehow, what he chose to play fit my chords to the structure of the music.

JEFFREY BROWN: And what did you learn from that?

HERBIE HANCOCK: What I learned from that is that Miles didn’t hear the chord as being wrong.He just heard it as something new that happened.So, he didn’t judge it.I learned the importance of being nonjudgmental, taking what happens and trying to make it work.That’s something you should apply to life, too.

JEFFREY BROWN: So, how did you learn to use that to make your own individual voice?

HERBIE HANCOCK: If you’re not judging what happens, then you’re trusting what they’re doing, what you’re playing, and trusting what you’re playing.And it can lead you to other ideas, to something maybe you hadn’t expressed before.

JEFFREY BROWN: In the 1970s and ’80s, Hancock stretched the bounds of jazz perhaps more than any other musician of his time and reached crossover popular success with his electrified fusion sound.Some purists — he calls them the jazz police — thought he had gone too far.But the broader public loved it, and so did Hancock, who nowadays plays with some of his technological toys in his basement recording studio.

You love the technology, huh?

HERBIE HANCOCK: I was an engineering major in college for two years.

JEFFREY BROWN: Is that right?

HERBIE HANCOCK: Yes. So, when synthesizers came along…

JEFFREY BROWN: You were ready.You were ready.

(LAUGHTER)

HERBIE HANCOCK: Yes.It was like the best of both worlds for me, which is acoustic instruments and — and, well, music and science.

JEFFREY BROWN: In the years since, Hancock has released recordings and performed with groups that go back and forth between acoustic and electronic sounds, and that often bridge jazz and popular music, as with his 2008 disk, “River,” which reinterpreted the music of Joni Mitchell.It was the surprise winner of a Grammy for album of the year.

HERBIE HANCOCK: We should keep looking at finding ways to combine, because, I mean, how do you make different colors?You make different colors by combining those colors that already exist.

You know, to me, that’s what makes the world interesting.That’s what makes the world continue to evolve.To me, it’s part of an overview that I hold close to my heart.

JEFFREY BROWN: But it’s based on all that preparation that you have and the training, which started as a kid, right, with classical music.

HERBIE HANCOCK: Yes.And, also, it takes a lot of focus.Doing this musically takes a lot of concentration and being willing to be naked, in a way, being vulnerable.That’s the best place to be in playing jazz and in improvising and reinterpreting.

JEFFREY BROWN: Herbie Hancock is finding that place, as he continues his world tour with “The Imagine Project” and enjoys a yearlong 70th birthday celebration.