Herbie Hancock: Future 2 Future (2001)

Uncategorized / 23. August 2001

This isn’t a full-fledged review of Herbie Hancock’s album FUTURE 2 FUTURE – it’s my initial response to the record which I wrote for the (now-defunct) Hancock mailing list.

I got Herbie’s new FUTURE 2 FUTURE CD today. I had high expectations for the album, and I’m not disappointed. The disc is excellent!

Great production (by Herbie and Bill Laswell), it sounds very modern … lots of breakbeats (both live & programmed — Jack DeJohnette is especially good, as is Karsh Kale), energetic soloing by everyone (especially Wayne Shorter, Charnett Moffett, and, of course, Herbie himself, on acoustic & electric piano) … the tracks have lots of different layers, but there’s also plenty of space … there are even two spoken word passages! There’s turntable scratching (Rob Swift is awesome; Grandmixer DXT is on board, too), world music influences (African rhythms, Ethiopean singer GiGi) and much more … I even like Carl Craig’s contribution (his Innerzone Orchestra album is an album I really had to force myself to listen to all the way through).

The album sort of combines all the styles Herbie’s worked in before, and comes up with something entirely new … it doesn’t even sound like FUTURE SHOCK or DIS IS DA DRUM, even though these two, mixed with THRUST, might be the closest points of reference.

One track is dedicated to Tony Williams, with a drum track played by Williams himself. The performance seems to be from the Arcana disc (ARC OF THE TESTIMONY), which was Tony’s last project (also with Laswell) … or at least it sounds like it’s been recorded during these sessions.

The Japanese version of the disc includes a bonus track, a remix of „The Essence“ (feat. Chaka Khan) by DJ Krush. A wonderful track. Apparently, there’s going to be a CD single featuring „The Essence“ and the remix, though, so you probably won’t have to get the Japanese version.

—————–
4 8 15 16 23 42






Avatar-Foto
Christian Genzel
Christian Genzel arbeitet als freier Autor und Filmschaffender. Sein erster Spielfilm DIE MUSE, ein Psychothriller mit Thomas Limpinsel und Henriette Müller, handelte von einem Schriftsteller, der eine junge Frau entführt, weil er sie als Inspiration für sein Buch braucht. Außerdem drehte Genzel mehrere Kurzfilme, darunter SCHLAFLOS, eine 40-minütige Liebeserklärung an die Musik mit Maximilian Simonischek und Stefan Murr, und den 2017 für den Shocking Short Award nominierten CINEMA DELL' OSCURITÀ. Derzeit arbeitet er an einer Dokumentation über den Filmemacher Howard Ziehm. Christian Genzel schreibt außerdem in den Bereichen Film, TV und Musik, unter anderem für Film & TV Kamera, Celluloid, GMX, den All-Music Guide, 35 Millimeter, Neon Zombie und Salzburger Nachrichten. Er hält Vorträge zu Filmthemen und kuratierte 2014 an der Universität Salzburg eine Filmreihe zum Thema "Erster Weltkrieg".





You might also like