Herbie Hancock

HERBIE HANCOCK
"POSSIBILITIES"
(WEA, 2005)


"Stitched Up" (featuring John Mayer)


Legendary jazz musician Herbie Hancock, who started out as a member of Miles Davis' quintet in the 1960s, has dabbled in rock and pop music from time to time, most notably with his huge crossover hit, "Rockit", in 1983. Since jazz hasn't been a favorite genre of mine for quite a few years now, I admit that I've never paid much attention to him before. But as soon as I happened upon this disc and read the list of guest artists -- a veritable who's-who of the rock and pop music world -- I knew I had to have it.

Much like Santana's recent albums, this is a collaboration project, but whereas Santana brings his guest artists into his enchanted world of Latin music, Hancock allows the featured players on his album to mostly stay in their familiar genres, but injects a bit of his trademark jazz arrangements and magical piano work into them. The result is a more free-flowing and relaxed album -- though no less enjoyable -- than Santana's last few.

Christina Aguilera shines on the sultry, torchy "A Song For You" (which earned a Grammy nomination); gifted young Latin guitarist Raul Midón breathes beautiful new life into Stevie Wonder's "I Just Called To Say I Love You"; soul-singing powerhouse Joss Stone and blues prodigy Jonny Lang are an explosive combination on "When Love Comes To Town"; and the vocals of Grammy-winning Beninese chanteuse Angélique Kidjo along with the Latin guitar mastery of Carlos Santana make "Safiatou" a true world-music tour-de-force. And that's not even mentioning the equally fantastic tracks featuring John Mayer, Annie Lennox, Sting, and Paul Simon!

I recently happened upon a documentary film (which I didn't know existed) about the making of this album, showing how each of the tracks came about. The movie gave me a new appreciation for the album. Suffice to say, if I hadn't known about the album before I'd seen the documentary, I would have run out and grabbed it immediately. I don't remember exactly how I found out about the album, but boy, am I glad I did.

Jonny Lang

JONNY LANG
"LONG TIME COMING"
(A&M, 2003)


"Get What You Give"


Jonny Lang took the blues world by storm when he released his first major-label album, "Lie To Me", a day before his 16th birthday. Blessed with a prodigious talent for thick, smoldering guitar licks, and the voice of a grizzled blues veteran three times his age, Lang proved to be a force to be reckoned with. After taking a five-year break from recording (to, among other things, get married, and play guitar on a few tracks of Hanson's "This Time Around" album), he chose to take a more mainstream, soul/rock approach with his third album, "Long Time Coming".

The music may not be as bluesy on this album as his usual fare, but I for one don't mind at all. Lang's gravelly growl of a voice is in top form, though, and packs just as much of an emotional delivery as always, without ever seeming overwrought. From the propulsive opener "Give Me Up Again" through the breezy love song "The One I Got" and the sweet ballad "Beautiful One", to the heartwrenchingly desperate "Save Yourself" and the downright rocking "Happiness And Misery" (featuring Aerosmith's Steven Tyler on a wicked harmonica solo), the album is one heck of an emotional ride -- and a nice long one at that, with 15 tracks.

Lang got spiritual on his subsequent album, 2006's "Turn Around"; though I personally didn't care for it, it shows that he's continuing to grow as a musician and as a person. "Long Time Coming" might not be particularly profound, and might not be widely considered his best work (especially if you ask one of the blues afficionados who fell in love with his music at the beginning), but it's my personal favorite of his albums.