Apr 29

Apr 29 Herbie in Conversation

Blues, Festivals, Jazz, Musicians, Performance

The eighty-six-year-old Herbie Hancock returned home today, joining Kris Bowers and Marcus Miller for a 90-minute discussion at the Chicago Cultural Center focused on film scoring.

Collectively, the three musicians brought plenty of experience to the table. Among many others, Hancock has scored Norman Jewison’s A Soldier’s Story (1974), Michelangelo Antonioni’s Blow-Up (1966), and Bertrand Tavernier’s Round Midnight (1986). Bowers credits include the soundtracks to the Green Book (2018), The Wild Robot (2024), and the Color of Purple (2023). Clearly a go-to guy, Miller has over 30 television and film scores to his credit, including The Incredibles (2019), Hannibal (2011), and Slippin’ Into Darkness (21012).

All three men are accomplished musicians. As they spoke, it became readily apparent that each is in demand for a variety of projects. Miller worked with Miles Davis on Tutu, performed with Eric Clapton, and has worked on several occasions with David Sanborn. The youngster among the three, Bowers has worked with Jay-Z, Kanye West, and Alicia Keys.

All three musicians have been nominated for Grammys, with both Hancock and Miller taking home statues.

The first question that the three took on was the obvious one: “What is jazz?” Hancock gave the most insightful answer by quoting his late bandmate and collaborator, Tony Williams, who defined it with a simple question, “I dare you, scary, right?” For Hancock. jazz “means . . . exploring what comes from life of living or living as just a human being . . . .”

Bowers took a more philosophical approach, defining jazz as, “just the honest expression of one's self musically . . . rooted musically in . . . African music, but also the intermixing of so many cultures, and also . . . [a] democratic process of listening and creating with a community of people at the same time.”

Miller looked to history, noting that when Duke Ellington took his band to Europe, the English critics said that they had never heard this music before, but that it “only could have been created in America.” He went on to source the music to New Orleans, observing,

It was created by folks who were ex slaves, but who got exposed to melodies from Europe, French melodies, English melodies, rhythms that came from Africa and also from up in the Caribbean. And it all came together. I think mostly in New Orleans, there was a place called Congo Square in New Orleans.

Because this was a panel that focused on scoring film, the moderator then asked the panelists whether they chose film scoring, or did it choose them? Miller answered first. Just out of film school, Reginald Hudlin needed someone to score his first film, House Party, which was released by New Line Cinema. When Hudlin heard what Miller had written, he praised Miller’s output, exclaiming, “Oh man, oh man, that's so good.” But Hudlin quickly deflated Miller’s ego, noting one problem, “I can't hear a word that my actors are saying,” Miller had just had his first lesson in scoring films.

Hancock received the call from director Michelangelo Antonioni, who was a huge jazz fan. Because the film Blow Up was financed with Canadian money, Hancock flew to Canada to use Canadian musicians. On his return, he headed to New York City, where he secretly re-recorded the soundtrack using Freddie Hubbard, Joe Newman, Jim Hall, Ron Carter, Jack DeJohnette, and Jimmy Smith or Paul Griffin on organ. Good choice, particularly because Antonioni loved Hancock’s deviation from the assignment.

Bower’s first go around with scoring was a documentary about basketball great, Kobe Bryant. He was told that he would have to convince Bryant that he was just as obsessed with music as Bryant was about basketball. Turns out Bryant didn’t know anything about jazz, so after the meeting, Bryant listened to some Coltrane and read a portion of a biography about Trane’s life.

Bowers got the job. Interestingly, Bryant told Bowers to watch the film, thinking about what each scene reminded Bower’s about his own life (rather than Bryant’s). Since that first job, Bowers has taken that same approach when scoring each film.

One of the best revelations from the panel came when Miller described working with the legendary Luther Vandross. According to Miler, Vandross may have been a great singer, but he didn’t know the music’s technical language. When listening to the mix for one song, Vandross said, “It’s not right. . . . I want it to sound like Skippy Peanut Butter, chunky.” On another number, Vandross wanted “more low end. . . . I want to sound like my refrigerator door when it closes.”

Probably the afternoon’s saddest story came when Hancock spoke about scoring Bertrand Tavernier’s Round Midnight, a film about a gifted saxophonist, Dale Turner, who was played by Dexter Gordon, who relocates to Paris in the 1950s. Life imitates art. Turner was an alcoholic, as was Gordon. As Hancock noted, Gordon “wasn’t acting, no, no.”

Hancock was living in Paris when he wrote the score for Round Midnight. At the time, his jazz fusion hit Rocket was hot, so Hancock was quite popular when he headed out at night to the clubs.

After an hour, the panel wrapped, with five lucky members of the audience being given the opportunity to ask questions. Regrettably, the stage was decked out with three large cushiony chairs, but no piano or bass, so we did not receive a preview of what will transpire at the Lyric Opera House tomorrow night. Nevertheless, the stories were worth the price of admission. Sadly, Terrence Blanchard, who had been scheduled as a panelist, missed his plane in New Orleams.

Afterwards, Hancock walked into the large ballroom next to the Claudia Cassidy Theater, where he signed autographs and posed for photographs with his adoring fans. Herbie is very down to the earth.

[Click on an Image to Enlarge It. The Images Are Not Necessarily in Exact Chronological Order]