Pianist Hancock jazzes up U.

Five-time Grammy Award-winning jazz pianist Herbie Hancock warmed up the cold February night yesterday evening as enthusiasts from throughout the region flooded Zellerbach Theatre for a sold-out, 2 1/2 hour performance. The show opened with a short performance by the University's Jazz Ensemble, preparing the crowd for one of America's greatest living jazz legends. After a piano tuner worked away at the keyboard of the glossy, black grand piano, ensuring that each note was perfectly tuned for the fingers of the long-awaited artist, Hancock emerged from the wings. The 58-year-old pianist stepped on stage amid wild applause and opened with the song "New York Minute." The entire house darkened to reveal three moonbeams of light shining down on the musicians. The song hummed with all the intensity and vibrancy of a crowded Manhattan street corner and the audience fell instantly silent. Hancock's drummer, West Philadelphia native Gene Jackson, played a rolling drum solo, which brought cheers and shouts of "Go ahead!" from spectators in the center of the house. The night's performance also included the song "I Love You," written by Cole Porter -- a melodic tune with impressive syncopation and a stunning bass solo from Davis. Hancock's feet skipped and danced in their velvety, black loafers beneath the piano as he went into his next number, "Cantaloupe Island," a swinging piano and bass masterpiece, with steady, tinkling percussion. For his next piece, Hancock told the audience he would take a "slightly different direction." "I'm not going to stay here," he said, referring to the piano bench, "because I already did that." Hancock paused, stood up and leaned over his instrument. "I'm going to start in there," he said, pointing to the piano strings, hidden from view. Hancock plucked the strings with his fingers and knocked the wooden beams on the piano's interior, creating a haunting, eerie effect. The trio closed with a cover of a Stevie Wonder song, "You Got It Bad Girl," but returned for an encore after a standing ovation roared through the theater for several minutes. Hancock played the Billie Holiday ballad "Some Other Spring," and then bade the audience farewell. In his dressing room after the show, he appeared tired but satisfied, his purple shirt slightly rumpled from a night of playing. He said the Philadelphia performance was "part of a very tiny tour," in which the trio had played "five concerts in six days," ending at Annenberg. "I'm going home tomorrow, back to L.A.," said Hancock with a sigh. Other concert sites included Nashville, Tenn.; Atlanta; Detroit; and the University of Virginia in Charlottesville. In a backstage interview, Jackson confessed that "New York Minute" was his favorite tune of the evening. "It's always an honor to play in my hometown," said Jackson, who now resides in New York City when he is not busy touring. Hancock started playing piano at the age of seven and performed a Mozart piano concerto with the Chicago Symphony by age 11. His childhood was just a hint of things to come. In 1963, jazz great Miles Davis invited Hancock to join his new group, whose Nefertiti and Sorcerer albums proved influential in shaping the 1960s jazz scene. Hancock received an Oscar at the 1987 Academy Awards for his soundtrack to the film Round Midnight and won his most recent Grammy in 1996 for the album The New Standard. His latest CD, Gershwin's World, has been nominated for four Grammy awards. The event was sponsored by the Social Planning and Events Committee, Sansom Common and the WRTI radio station.

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