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.

This week’s episode examines how cultural diplomacy can be one of the most effective tools for international relations, despite often being downplayed in favor of displays of hard power. We meet jazz legend Herbie Hancock and basketball superstar Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.

Click here to watch the full video

Hancock was named a UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador in 2011 for the promotion of intercultural dialogue, which put him on the world stage to spread messages of peace and unity. Hancock is not only a jazz icon, but, as the chairman of the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz, a mentor to the next generation of jazz greats.

Abdul-Jabbar holds the NBA’s scoring record with an impressive 38,387 career points. For Kareem, it’s no longer about winning the game, but rather about applying the values he learned on the court to the next chapter in his life — and sharing those lessons with the world through his role as a U.S. Cultural Ambassador.

Watch the video replay of KCET’s “Herbie Hancock: All That Jazz” here at HerbieHancock.com

Click here to watch the video

As described by KCET:

“In a special episode, SoCal Connected correspondent Michael Okwu gains unprecedented access to jazz great Herbie Hancock, at home and on-stage.

The legendary 14-time Grammy winner opens up about his life, history, and accomplishments from over half a century of music-making with some of the jazz world’s greatest artists. This special half-hour features amazing performances and never-before-seen footage of Hancock. It also includes interviews with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Quincy Jones, Chaka Khan, and Los Angeles Times jazz critic, Chris Barton.

SoCal Connected takes you on a journey from the origins of Hancock’s career as a musical prodigy with legendary trumpeter Miles Davis—to his days recording hit songs for commercials and TV—to his current role spearheading jazz programs for the L.A. Philharmonic & Hollywood Bowl with renowned composer Gustavo Dudamel.”

‘Possibilities’ features an all-star set of singers and instrumentalists, including John Mayer, Christina Aguilera, Carlos Santana, Sting and Paul Simon performing a mix of new compositions and standards.

The album received GRAMMY nominations in the Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals category for Herbie’s performance with Christina Aguilera on “A Song For You” and in the Best Pop Instrumental Performance category for Herbie’s original composition with Trey Anastasio on “Gelo na Montanha.” “Possibilities” is the fourth Herbie Hancock album to achieve a Gold sales milestone.

The award-winning jazz great discusses his first-ever solo tour and reflects on the key to a great performance. A modern music icon, Herbie Hancock played with the jazz greats and went on to become an Oscar- and Grammy-winning musician-composer. The Chicago native took up piano at age 7 and, classically trained, was performing Mozart with symphony orchestras by age 11. He’s scored a number of films and is involved in several educational endeavors, including the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz. Hancock is the L.A. Philharmonic’s creative chair for jazz and UNESCO’s Goodwill Ambassador for the promotion of Intercultural Dialogue. This fall, he embarks on his first ever solo tour.

Click here to watch a video of Herbie Hancock on the Tavis Smiley Show, broadcast August 29th, 2011, via WNET

Following his appointment as UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador, Herbie will bring the milestones of his storied career to audiences in his first solo tour.

Kicking off this Fall’s ambitious schedule is the much-anticipated opening night gala of the Los Angeles Philharmonic pairing Hancock with conductor Gustavo Dudamel at Walt Disney Hall.

Hancock will then set out on his first ever solo tour, which will see the artist explore his catalog alone on stage, accompanied only by his arsenal of keyboards and his signature Fazioli Grand piano.

Hancock will re-arrange and reinterpret his contributions to the canon of modern jazz, funk and electronic music for an evening of unprecedented virtuosity.

A trio of cities, Calgary, Portland and Seattle, will see Hancock revisit George Gershwin’s “Rhapsody in Blue” in collaboration with their local symphony orchestras.

HERBIE HANCOCK 2011 TOUR DATES

9.17.11 Monterey, CA, Monterey Jazz Festival*
9.18.11 Santa Rosa, CA, Wells Fargo Center*
9.20.11 Chico, CA, Laxson Auditorium*
9.21.11 Berkeley, CA, Zellerbach Hall*
9.23.11 San Diego, CA Balboa Theater*
9.27.11 Los Angeles, CA, Disney Hall w/ LA Philharmonic
10.7.11 Akron, OH, E.J. Thomas Theatre#
10.8.11 Philadelphia, PA, Verizon Hall#
10.9.11 Newport News, VA, Ferguson Center for the Arts#
10.28.11 Minneapolis, MN, Orchestra Hall#
10.29.11 Naperville, IL, Wentz Concert Hall#
10.30.11 Lawrence, KS, Lied Center of Kansas#
10.31.11 Dallas, TX, Meyerson Symphony Center#
11.9.11 Calgary, ALB, Jack Singer Concert Hall w/ Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra
11.11.11 Portland, OR, Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall w/ Oregon Symphony
11.18.11 Seattle, WA, Benaroya Hall w/ Seattle Symphony)

* w/ Lionel Loueke, James Genus, and Vinnie Colaiuta
# Solo Concert

Click here to watch a video of Herbie at the UNESCO headquarters

Introducing the Herbie Hancock VIP Experience.

On select upcoming dates, a limited number of VIP packages will be available, which include: VIP laminate with seat in the first 10 rows, limited edition signed poster, and a post-show reception including a meet and greet with Herbie. Visit our tour page for more details and newly announced dates.

Herbie Hancock will return to North America in the summer for a series of West Coast shows, with The Herbie Hancock VIP Experience package offered for select shows.

Herbie Hancock will return to North America in the summer for a series of West Coast shows featuring drummer Vinnie Colaiuta, bassist James Genus and guitarist Lionel Loueke. The quartet tour will kick off September 17th at the Monterey Jazz Festival in northern California, then move on to Santa Rosa, Chico, Berkeley and San Diego.

The Herbie Hancock VIP Experience package will be offered for select shows on this west coast run, including VIP laminate with a seat in the first 10 rows, limited edition signed poster, and a post-show reception including a meet and greet with Herbie.

From there, Herbie will perform with the Los Angeles Philharmonic in a special performance at Disney Hall conducted by Gustavo Dudamel for the opening night gala of the Philharmonic’s 2011 season.

Finally, Herbie will wrap up the year by performing Gershwin’s “Rhapsody In Blue” accompanied by symphony orchestras in Calgary, Portland and Seattle.