Feelin' jazzy? Then tonight and tomorrow night should be a treat, as eight-time Grammy winner Herbie Hancock is set to get his groove on in the Gothic Wonderland.
A legend in the jazz world, Hancock will perform at 8 p.m. today in Page Auditorium. Hancock will be the focus of another two events Tuesday, both free to the public. At 4 p.m. in Reynolds Theater, he will speak at a lecture entitled, "Digital Dolphin Dance: The Influence of Technology on the Musical Life of Herbie Hancock." At 8 p.m. in Reynolds, he will direct a master class. A jazz ensemble comprised of young musicians from Duke, the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill and North Carolina Central University, will perform some popular jazz tunes and receive constructive criticism from the legend himself.
The events are made possible by collaboration between a number of groups, including the On Stage Committee of the Duke University Union, the Pratt School of Engineering, the Duke University Department of Music and the Duke University Institute of the Arts.
"Herbie Hancock has been a big player in the jazz world for decades, so bringing him to campus was, in a lot of ways, an easy choice," said senior Suneel Nelson, chair of the On Stage Committee. "Herbie is a well-known and influential artist, and he has made his name on being a versatile performer."
Anthony Kelley, assistant professor of music and faculty advisor on the Union Board, urged the Duke community to partake in this rare concert.
"Herbie Hancock is an artist you know is going to be completely masterful in his performance, but the excitement is that every performance is different," Kelley said. "He always wants to challenge himself, and you know you're in for something exceptional when you see a man as masterful as he is that can still challenge himself."
The events scheduled for Tuesday are as highly anticipated as the concert. Hancock, a graduate of Grinnell College who double majored in music and electrical engineering, will devote his lecture to discussing how he has integrated technology into his music. The talk will be followed with a question-and-answer period.
"Starting in the 1960's and 1970's, Hancock was one of the first jazz performers to experiment with the synthesizers available, and he achieved something unique--his own sound," Kelley said.
"He's known for... incorporating unorthodox technological elements into his performances," Nelson said. "It's not often that you get to see an eight-time Grammy Award winner perform, and [it's] even more rare to have a lecture demonstration, Q&A session and master class with an artist of Hancock's caliber."
Roger Diebold, a sophomore who plays the trumpet in the Duke Jazz Ensemble, anticipates receiving pointers from the jazz icon during Tuesday night's Masters Class.
"I'm hoping that he will offer a critique on the finer points and details of our performance and improvisation, rather than focusing on the basics, because he is such a great musician," said Diebold.
The events were planned partly because of the rare opportunities they present to Duke and Durham alike, said Jonathan Bigelow, president of the Union.
"This type of music isn't usually heard on campus, so we want to open this possibility to the Duke and Durham communities," Bigelow said.
"Duke has a very strong jazz program, and Durham has a strong tradition in jazz, so we think this plays very well into that paradigm."
Tickets are $15, $12 and $9 for Duke students, and $30, $27 and $24 for the general public. They are on sale at the Bryan Center Box Office, by phone at 684-4444, and on the web at tickets.duke.edu.
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