In the liner notes Herbie Hancock apologizes to anyone he may have left out. After listening to his latest album, The Imagine Project, I wonder who it might have been. The purpose of the project “is an effort to show the power and beauty of global collaboration as a golden path to peace.” How do you do that? By inviting everybody to be on your album from Pink and Chaka Khan to John Legend and Seal. Even my two favorite bands, Los Lobos and The Chieftains make an appearance, as well as international stars like Anoushka Shankar and Juanes.
I have a lot of jazz albums and I’ve always been interested to see where they were recorded. Most of were completed in less than a week with a few musicians in New Jersey studio. This album is musical journey across multiple continents, each song with a new group of artists. The title song, “Imagine” alone was recorded in London, Paris and Southern California with musicians as diverse as Jeff Beck and the group Konono No. 1. Maybe that’s what happens on a global trip with a voyager as seasoned as Herbie Hancock.
At age 70, Hancock can lay claim to a long list of accomplishments from Grammys to Oscars. My favorite nugget is his breakout hit, “Rockit” being voted #10 on VH1’s top 100 all time musical videos. It was the song that first introduced me to Hancock, to jazz and the infinite possibilities of the music.
The Imagine Project is a collaboration of musicians remixing classic songs from artists like Gabriel, Marley and Dylan. I feel any musician covering familiar territory should bring something new to the game. Not only does Hancock bring something new, he breathes a fresh, lively spirit into the title song. Where John Lennon’s voice was a lonely ballad filled with a forlorn daydreaming, Hancock’s reinterpretation flourishes into an orchestral, world beat jam. Not only is “Imagine” a possibility, its happening.
