Herbie Hancock - Future2Future Live

Amazon.com Keyboardist Herbie Hancock's foray into a fusion of jazz, funk, electronics, and hip-hop, begun in the early '70s, continues with this 104-minute concert, recorded in 2002 in Los Angeles. While there are occasional echoes of Weather Report and of Miles Davis's music from Bitches Brew onward (especially with trumpeter Wallace Roney now part of the Hancock ensemble), this is a distinctive, original sound, with the innovations put in service of the music, rather than vice versa; there's plenty of room for these musicians to simply play with the improvisational spirit that's at the heart of jazz. The six-piece group plays "Rockit," Hancock's hit from the '80s (the original video is among the extras), "Chameleon" (the best-known track from the Headhunters album), and eight others; multi-angle shots provide different viewing options, and the sound is uniformly superb. Other bonus features include a Hancock interview and bios (including solo excerpts) for each band member. --Sam Graham