TED? Head(hunters)
January 12, 2010 8:02 PM   Subscribe

Herbie Hancock delivers a TED Talk. Not much talking, plenty of jamming. Marcus Miller and Harvey Mason accompany Hancock. Check out the monster Watermelon Man that starts around fourteen minutes in.
posted by fixedgear (10 comments total) 12 users marked this as a favorite
 
Thanks! It don't get much funkier than that.
posted by gnutron at 9:05 PM on January 12, 2010


I'm a huge fan of herbie hancock and that did nothing for me.

1. TED is about talks, right? Not sure what this added.
2. Herbie is playing around with too many different sounds -- here's a trumpet sound, here's a voice sound, etc. It sounds like I'm listening to some dude goofing off at Guitar Center.
3. All the tunes are basically in a similar style, so even as a pure concert, there's not alot of excitement there.
4. Yes, it does get much funkier than that, especially from Herbie. For example, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0hmVHhH96es
posted by milnak at 9:18 PM on January 12, 2010 [3 favorites]


TED is about talks, right? Not sure what this added.

^^^This.

I hope this doesn't signal the start to a race to the bottom.
posted by uncanny hengeman at 9:49 PM on January 12, 2010


milnak: "1. TED is about talks, right? Not sure what this added."

The E stands for Entertainment. On the other hand, the social and political activism talkers don't have much in the way of technology, entertainment or design, so this surely meets the 1 of 3 criteria.
posted by pwnguin at 11:20 PM on January 12, 2010 [1 favorite]


Here is a fun video of Herbie Hancock entertaining some kids with cutting-edge 80s sampling / synth technology.
posted by beniamino at 3:47 AM on January 13, 2010


Thanks! It don't get much funkier than that.

While that was indeed funky, don't get me wrong, I believe Mr. Hancock has, at times, been funkier.

And that's just 5 minutes of YouTube searching!
posted by Pollomacho at 5:04 AM on January 13, 2010 [1 favorite]


The live TED conference - which preceded the videos by more than 15 years - mixes 18 minute talks, 3 minute talks, short video presentations and musical sets. It's traditional for each day to close with a major musical performance - the day after the Hancock performance, Regina Spektor brought the house down with a closing performance.

I was in the crowd for this set - I was blogging the TED conference and decided to leave my pending posts on hold to see one of my jazz heros. The opening performance left the audience baffled, confused and mostly silent - not a lot of free jazz fans in that crowd. Things opened up when Herbie brought out Watermelon Man... and, frankly, when he played funk, rather than exploring free jazz. I don't get the sense that he had a good understand for who the audience was - folks looking for a mix of intellectual stimulation rather than serious jazz fans. Anyway, I thought the set ended extremely well and I'm very glad it's memorialized online.
posted by obruni at 6:18 AM on January 13, 2010 [1 favorite]


b1tr0t: Decent set, but nothing mind blowing. I would much prefer to hear Herbie talk.

Yeah, this is exactly what I was thinking. He is closing in on 50 years active in Jazz, and has had a landmark career by any metric. I don't have any problem with him playing for the TED people, but I would much prefer to hear what he wants to say when someone gives him an audience and a half-hour, personally.
posted by paisley henosis at 8:47 AM on January 13, 2010




I must respectfully disagree with yall. I know Herbie has played funkier shit than that, I own half his music....I was referring to the overall groove. C'mon, when Watermelon Man rolls in, you've got three master musicians hitting one of the deepest grooves in history.
posted by gnutron at 12:26 PM on January 13, 2010 [1 favorite]


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