Concert Review: Herbie Hancock, ASB Theatre

Herbie Hancock. Photo / Supplied

When Herbie Hancock was last here in 2007 he played a show that spanned his classic work - and really, that's what you want to hear.

However, this concert was going to be a little different because he would be playing songs off last year's album The Imagine Project, an ambitious collaborative work that brought together a diverse list of musicians from around the world.

It may have won two Grammy Awards but overall it was a little twee and corny - not to mention hard to pull off live given the guest roster.

But with vocalist and violinist Kristina Train in tow and the wonders of recorded technology, Hancock made it work reasonably well. It helped that he selected a clutch of the album's best songs to play, including Dylan's The Times, They Are A' Changin' (with The Chieftans) and Tamatant Tilay/Exodus featuring the desert blues grooves of Mali's Tinariwen and Los Lobos chiming in on the righteous Bob Marley classic.

But of course it was the jazz - and at times it was downright wild, heavy and funky jazz - where Hancock and his band, made up of towering bass player James Genus and poised and powerful drummer Trevor Lawrence, were at their best.

While Hancock is a master he was almost overshadowed by his fearsome rhythm section - even introducing them as "dangerous people" to play with.

"This is not easy and they make it tougher," he beamed.

Opening with the tough beat and fuzz bass of early 70s track Actual Proof, Hancock moved seamlessly between his grand piano and Korg keyboard as he morphed in and around the groove. And his blazing Roland keytar - which sounded a little bleepy and high pitched compared to the wholesome tone of old - came out for a cheeky version of Watermelon Man.

Elsewhere Joni Mitchell's Court and Spark got a brooding and atmospheric work out (with Lawrence starting out with drum sticks, then tympani mallets, and moving on to brushes), before the band left the stage as Hancock played on alone at his piano with a solitary spotlight a portal to his beautiful Maiden Voyage-style musings.

Genus and Lawrence returned for a sprawling and magical medley, ending with the stylish mooch of Cantaloupe Island, before guest guitarist Derek Trucks, his wife and singer Susan Tedeschi, with members of their band who were also in Auckland to play this week, took to the stage for a loud and electric blues sing-a-long to Space Captain off The Imagine Project.

Trucks also joined in on Chameleon - the opening track off 1973 jazz-funk classic Headhunters - which was a hard bopping encore.

As well as the mix of poised and hard-out playing, Hancock and his band were having fun up there (especially when dancing and grinning along to Rockit at the end).

He didn't look, or move, as if he's 71, performing like a true keytar hero as his fingers flew over the keys and took intuitiveness to a frightening new level. But then that's what you get when you've been the best keyboard player in the business for more than 50 years - and Herbie's still at the top of his game.