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  • WDCH
  • HERBIE HANCOCK BRINGS HIS PIANO GENIUS TO WALT DISNEY CONCERT HALL IN PERFORMANCE WITH LOS ANGELES PHILHARMONIC
  • May. 1, 2004
  • Jazz Program Features Classic Songs by George Gershwin

    SATURDAY, MAY 1, at 8 PM

    Sponsored by St. Regis Los Angeles; additional media support provided by KKJZ

    Herbie Hancock joins the Los Angeles Philharmonic on a journey through the music of George Gershwin on Saturday, May 1, at 8 p.m., at Walt Disney Concert Hall. The evening includes many of the songs on Hancock's Gershwin's World album, released by Verve in 1998, as well as music from Hancock's 1965 recording, Maiden Voyage, on the Blue Note label, all newly arranged for orchestra, conducted by Robert Sadin.

    Like the album, this live concert brings together artists from across the jazz and classical music spectrum in recognition of George Gershwin and his artistic milieu. On Gershwin's World, Hancock probes the essence of Gershwin's muse in exciting new contexts with such classics as Fascinating Rhythm and Someone To Watch Over Me plus Ellington's Cottontail and W.C. Handy's St. Louis Blues. Gershwin's World won three Grammy Awards in 1999, including Best Traditional Jazz Album. The album was celebrated as one of the very finest in Herbie Hancock's incomparable career.

    The second half of the program includes songs from Maiden Voyage, an album that placed Hancock firmly in the company of the great jazz musicians. Recorded as a concept album about the sea, Hancock and the quartet will perform "Maiden Voyage," as well as other Hancock interpretations of jazz repertoire standards. Hancock is joined by Richie Barshay on drums and percussion and Scott Colley on bass.

    This program concludes the Los Angeles Philharmonic's 2003/04 jazz series, which featured four concerts throughout the season, highlighted by performances of some of the world's leading jazz ensembles and performers.

    Upbeat live pre-concert events take place one hour prior to each concert in BP Hall at Walt Disney Concert Hall.

    Multi-award winning pianist HERBIE HANCOCK is entering his fifth decade of professional life and, along the way, has garnered an Academy Award and eight Grammy Awards, not to mention a place in the forefront of world culture, technology, business, and music. Since 1991, he has been the Distinguished Artist in Residence at Jazz Aspen Snowmass in Colorado. Hancock also serves as a member of the Board of Trustees of the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz.

    ROBERT SADIN has distinguished himself as conductor, arranger, and record producer. He produced and arranged Gershwin's World for Herbie Hancock, a widely acclaimed album that won three Grammy awards and was named Album of the Year in the Down Beat readers' and critics' polls, and was named jazz album of the year in Japan and Germany. As a conductor, Sadin has led the Brooklyn Philharmonic, the Chicago, Detroit, and New Jersey Symphonies, and the Orquestra Nacional of Porto, Portugal. He conducted the Orchestra of St. Luke's in the Grammy-winning album Listen to the Storyteller and in the Grammy-nominated album Portraits in Blue, featuring Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue and James P. Johnson's Yamerkraw. In 1993, Sadin was invited by Wynton Marsalis and Peter Martins to conduct the premiere of the ballet Jazz at the New York City Ballet, where he has since frequently guest-conducted. Sadin has conducted the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra, both at Lincoln Center and on tour through the U.S.

    EDITORS PLEASE NOTE:

    SATURDAY, MAY 1, 2004 at 8 PM

    Walt Disney Concert Hall

    111 S. Grand Avenue, Los Angeles

    LOS ANGELES PHILHARMONIC

    HERBIE HANCOCK, piano

    ROBERT SADIN, conductor

    RICHARD BARSHAY, drums/percussion

    SCOTT COLLEY, bass

    Sponsored by St. Regis Hotel Los Angeles; additional media support provided by KKJZ

    Upbeat live pre-concert events take place one hour prior to each concert in BP Hall at Walt Disney Concert Hall.

    Tickets ($25 - $80) are on sale now at the Walt Disney Concert Hall box office, online at LAPhil.com, or via credit card phone order at 323.850.2000. When available, choral bench seats ($15), will be released for sale to selected Philharmonic, Colburn Celebrity Recital, and Baroque Variations performances beginning at noon on the Tuesday of the second week prior to the concert. A limited number of $10 rush tickets for seniors and full time students may be available at the Walt Disney Concert Hall box office two hours prior to the performance. Valid identification is required; one ticket per person; cash only. Groups of 12 or more may be eligible for special discounts for selected concerts and seating areas. For all information, please call 323.850.2000.

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  • Contact:

    Ryan Jimenez, 213.972.3405; for photos: Ellie Lloyd, 213.972.3448