A BELL LABORATORIES CELEBRITY SERIES EVENT
An Evening with
Herbie Hancock and His Band THU, MAR 15, 2012 | Overture Hall
This program is part of Overture’s Community Ticket Program. Funding for the Community Ticket Program is provided by American Girl’s Fund for Children, a grant from the Wisconsin Arts Board with funds from the State of Wisconsin and the National Endowment for the Arts, and by contributions to Overture Center for the Arts. Learn how you can help make arts experiences real for hundreds of thousands of people in the greater Madison area at overturecenter.com/contribute.
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HERBIE HANCOCK 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 Herbie 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, Herbie 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 doublemajored in music and electrical engineering at Grinnell College. In 1960, Herbie 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.” In 1963, Miles Davis invited Herbie to join the Miles Davis Quintet. During his five years with Davis, Herbie and his colleagues Wayne Shorter (tenor sax), Ron Carter (bass), and Tony Williams (drums) recorded many classics, including ‘ESP’, ‘Nefertiti’ and ‘Sorcerer’. Later on, Herbie made appearances on Davis’ groundbreaking In a Silent Way and
Bitches Brew, which heralded the birth of jazz-fusion. Herbie’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, Herbie 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, Herbie 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, Herbie 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. Herbie 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, Herbie 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 Herbie 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 of the track won five MTV awards. Sound System, the follow-up, also received a Grammy in the R&B instrumental category. Herbie won an Oscar in 1986 for scoring the film Round Midnight, in Herbie Hancock | Overture Center
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Kirven James Boyd. Photo by Andrew Eccles
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 Herbie’s own Verve-distributed 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.” Herbie 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 Herbie 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-InResidence at the Tennessee-based
“Powerful AnD Sublime.” — Gannett News Service
A SuprANet CommuNiCAtioNS DANCe SerieS eveNtS
tue, mar 27, 7:30 pm tickets starting at $35.50 overture Hall
Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater On their first tour under new artistic director Robert Battle. This is an important moment in the history of dance in America — be a part of it!
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festival Bonnaroo. In 2007, Hancock recorded and released River: The Joni Letters, a tribute to longtime friend and collaborator Joni Mitchell featuring Wayne Shorter, guitarist Lionel Loueke, bassist Dave Holland and drummer Vinnie Colaiuta and coproduced by Larry Klein. He enlisted vocalists Norah Jones, Tina Turner,
Corinne Bailey Rae, Luciana Souza, 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; Herbie is one of only a handful of jazz musicians ever to receive that honor.
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Herbie 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 currently 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. In 2010 Hancock released the critically-acclaimed 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 #l, Anoushka Shankar, Chaka Khan, Marcus Miller, Derek Trucks, Susan Tedeschi, Tinariwen and Ceu. Now in the fifth decade of his professional life, Herbie 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.
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A bell lAborAtories celebrity series event
thu, apr 19, 7:30 pm tickets Starting at $40.50 overture hall
Itzhak Perlman
The undisputed reigning virtuoso of the violin — and Kennedy Center honoree — takes the Overture Hall stage in an intimate solo recital.
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Overture Center for the Arts would like to recognize
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pLATInUM SpOnSOrS American girl’s Fund for Children Madison gas & electric gOLd SpOnSOrS The Bruce Company University of Wisconsin of Wisconsin Hospital and Clinics CUnA Mutual group University of Wisconsin proVideo Medical Foundation Unity University research park SILVer SpOnSOrS Bell Laboratories Moe’s & Icon restaurants Capital newspapers, Inc. Murphy desmond, S.C. deWitt ross & Stevens SVA Food Fight, Inc. Supranet Communications gammex TOMCAT products Madison Investment Holdings Webcrafters BrOnze SpOnSOrS goodman’s Jewelers Smart Motors J.H. Findorff & Son Inc. Stafford rosenbaum, S.C. Outrider Foundation State Bank of Cross plains pepsi Cola of Madison TdS Telecommunications COrpOrATe SpOnSOrS Steve Brown Apartments Custer Financial Services Von Briesen & roper The Fiore Companies, Inc. Wheeler, Van Sickel & Anderson, S.C. Hovde properties Whyte Hirschboeck dudek, S.C. Mullins group WISC-TV park Bank The robert H. Keller Co. *List current as of January 31, 2012
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PATRON SERVICES AND INFORMATION
Welcome to Overture Center for the Arts
Your enjoyment is important to us. Please contact an usher or the ticket office if you have any concerns about your experience here. ORDERING & INFORMATION Order online! overturecenter.com Phone orders: Call 608.258.4141 Mail or fax: online order form at overturecenter.com or in our magazine.
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wheelchair-accessible seating house wheelchair for transport sign language interpretation Braille playbill other accommodations
Information is also available at overturecenter.com/tickets/accessibility Children and lap seating: Every person, regardless of age, must have a ticket to enter the theaters for performances. Children under the age of 6 are not permitted at certain performances. See our season brochure, visit our website or call the Help Line at 608.258.4143 for information. Contacting a patron during a performance: Call 608.258.4179 with the performance the patron is attending and his/ her row and seat number. Lost and Found: Visit the information desk in the Rotunda Lobby or call 608.258.4973. Rentals: For information on renting spaces in Overture Center for weddings, performances, meetings or other events, call 608.258.4163 or email events@overturecenter.com. 12
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Event Staff Stagehand services in Overture are provided by members of Local 251 of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees. Usher and other services for Overture are provided by Overture volunteers. For information, visit overturecenter.com/contribute/ volunteer or call 608.258.4177. RESIDENT ORGANIZATIONS Bach Dancing & Dynamite Society bachdancinganddynamite.org | 608.255.9866 Children’s Theater of Madison ctmtheater.org | 608.255.2080 Forward Theater Company forwardtheater.com | 608.234.5001 Kanopy Dance Company kanopydance.org | 608.255.2211 Li Chiao-Ping Dance lichiaopingdance.org | 608.835.6590 Madison Ballet madisonballet.org | 608.278.7990 Madison Opera madisonopera.org |608.238.8085 Madison Symphony Orchestra madisonsymphony.org | 608.257.3734 Wisconsin Academy’s James Watrous Gallery wisconsinacademy.org | 608.265.2500 Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra wcoconcerts.org | 608.257.0638