Bebop and beyond

Herbie Hancock has just been awarded the 2008 Grammy award for Album of the Year -- a collaborative effort with Joni Mitchell. I've known Herbie since I was in high school. The night of my high school graduation, I went to the Village Vanguard and had the pleasure of seeing him perform with Miles Davis' band, without Miles. I got to know the whole band because of my friendship with bassist Ron Carter. We have maintained our friendship since this time. It has been a real treat to see Herbie's reach expand constantly.  He has never forgotten Duke Ellington's edict to swing.

"River: The Joni Letters" represents Herbie's expansion beyond the race- based straitjackets of nomenclature imposed on American musicians.  American music has such a rich and varied foundation it is really grotesque to try to define it as R & B or rock or pop or metal or Latin or Reggae or country or blues. For example, the blues and country evolved in exactly the same environment--  i.e. the Mississippi Delta, West Texas, Nashville, Tenn., and New Orleans, to name a few.  But for some reason, the music of Elvis must be regarded as different from Chuck Berry even when both artists embrace the same regional and artistic roots.

Maybe Herbie's success will make a few a more people think about the absurdity of these genre designations. After all, it is the clash of America's various cultural heritage that give us such a rich and varied musical landscape.

Herbie certainly inherited the mantle of Art Tatum and Bud Powell, but his world is so much bigger than that. My hope is that as Americans our ability to appreciate our enormous musical choices will continue to expand. Don't forget, Satchmo, Johnny Cash, the Duke and Frank Sinatra are watching ... and listening!

p.s.: Herbie collaborated with me on a song for my audio book "On the Shoulders of Giants." We took an old song from the 1930s, entitled "Stompin' at the Savoy," and Herbie remade it into a modern jazz song. will.i.am from the blackeyed peas sang vocals with Nikki Yanofksy.

Click here to listen to the song: "Stompin' at the Savoy"

Comments

[Jon K.]

Kareem,

As a musician and an ethnomusicologist with a degree from UCLA, I personally believe that historically and globally, African-American culture has been the most successfully innovative creative musical culture the world has ever seen. It is AMAZING the diversity and quantity of musical styles that have been generated by African-American culture over the last two hundred years. It is unprecedented.

This much said, I feel that creatively-speaking, African-American music has taken a TREMENDOUS step backwards with the popularization of Hip-Hop.

Yes, in terms of lyrical phrasing Hip-Hop is truly innovative. However, generally speaking, in terms of content and musical complexity, it is light years behind Soul, Funk, Blues, and Jazz.

How do you explain how a culture which created arguably the most sublime music in the history of the world (Jazz) has become so immersed in a musical culture which in its most popular forms is stunted creatively and extols a lifestyle of violence and misogyny?

[Steven G]

Kareem , What a great city we have to have someone of your stature and knowledge grace our paper on a regular basis . You have always been my favorite Laker and I had the incredible experience of being employed as a ball boy for the 1985 season ( best team in NBA history by the way). Your introspective reserved nature has always been misunderstood in the media , let us thank God we dont believe everything we read in the media . You are a true legend in this town and it will be a pleasure reading your blog

[Tbone]

K,
Thank you , thank you, thank you! I can tell you are a good friend and also a very knowledgable jazz fan. Two of my hero(s) Herbie and Ron Carter. Wow! I am not suprised at the victory since Herbie is an active Buddhist. He mentioned in his acceptance speech "making the impossible possible". That a true Buddhist statement and demonstrates the determination of a lion. A lion does not sit there and wait for things to happen. The lion makes things happen and rules the jungle. So his win is not a "steal" it is a victory for those of us in this culture that are looking to "raise the bar" and expand our minds.
Tbone Hamilton
Bassist
Fellow Buddhist
Human Being