0
0
Celebrating seven decades of music, multiple Grammy Award-winning jazz-funk icon Herbie Hancock will return to the Sydney Opera House on 11 – 12 October 2024 for two in-the-round performances in the Concert Hall.
Four years after his last sold-out Opera House appearance, the genre-leaping keyboard master will perform a career-spanning set featuring new material alongside beloved favourites.
Over his illustrious seven-decade career, Hancock became a sonic pioneer whose innovations shaped everything from jazz and fusion to funk, R&B and electro.
The Chicago-born visionary first gained prominence in the early 60s as a member of the trailblazing Miles Davis Quintet, before soaring to stardom with the release of his record-breaking album Head Hunters, which masterfully fused electric jazz with funk and rock.
The thrilling evolution of his unique sound has been marked by enduring classics such as ‘Watermelon Man’, ‘Rockit’, ‘Future Shock’ and more.
Sydney Opera House Head of Contemporary Music, Ben Marshall says: “A true icon of modern music transcending both genre and era, it’s an incredible honour to welcome the one and only Herbie Hancock back to the Opera House stage, bringing his glorious seven decades of innovation and excellence across two unmissable performances.
“Few artists have come close to exerting the indelible influence Herbie Hancock has had on music – let alone on contemporary jazz – from performing with Chick Corea and Wayne Shorter to collaborating with Stevie Wonder and Kendrick Lamar. Hancock’s place as a titan of the form is unassailable, come hear him bring the House down, one more time.”
With 14 Grammy Awards under his belt, including Album of the Year for River: The Joni Letters, the boundary-pushing great has remained at the forefront of revolution in modern music, cementing his status as a pioneer of jazz fusion.
At 84, legendary artist Herbie Hancock is a living history of popular music across the past seven decades; a sonic pioneer whose innovations shaped everything from jazz and fusion to funk, R&B and electro. Five years after dazzling audiences at Vivid LIVE in 2019, the 14-time Grammy Award-winner, Oscar-winning composer and Kennedy Centers Honors recipient is set to return to the Sydney Opera House, performing a selection of new music and stone-cold classics from his immense back catalogue.
A musical icon whose work has transcended both genre and era, the Chicago-born Hancock rose to prominence in the early ’60s with his Blue Note Records debut, Takin’ Off (1963), before joining the Miles Davis Quintet, the groundbreaking ensemble that would redefine the sound of jazz with records like E.S.P. (1965) and In A Silent Way (1969). In the ’70s, Hancock launched a chart-topping jazz-funk career with smashes like “Chameleon Man” and the classic Headhunters (1973), while the ’80s found him at the vanguard of hip-hop and electro with hits – including “Rockit” and “Sound System” – that would earn him new generations of fans.
Among his innumerable career highlights, Hancock has composed the soundtracks for Michelangelo Antonioni’s Blow-up (1966) and Bertrand Tavernier’s Round Midnight (1986); collaborated with such musical heavyweights as Chick Corea, Wayne Shorter, Stevie Wonder, Joni Mitchell, Kendrick Lamar and Kamasi Washington; and was designated a UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador in 2011. His latest album At Midnight, a collection of all-new work and remastered classics, was released in May.
Don’t miss this rare chance to experience one of music’s true giants at his electrifying best, as he looks back over an illustrious career – and summons forth the future of jazz in the process.
