# Jazz heavyweights Herbie Hancock and Kamasi Washington announce joint tour: Videos

- Link: https://jazzblues.eu/2019/04/09/jazz-heavyweights-herbie-hancock-and-kamasi-washington-announce-joint-tour-videos/
- Published: 2019-04-09T18:45:03+01:00
- Author: https://JazzBlues.EU

**Herbie Hancock and Kamasi Washington, two of the biggest names in jazz, will join
forces for a North American co-headlining tour this summer.**

Their initial slew of dates, starting July 30 in Vienna, Va. and ending Aug. 23 
in Berkeley, Calif., should go on sale to the general public this Friday.

Hancock, a 14-time Grammy-winning pianist and NEA Jazz Master, will lead a band 
similar to the one featured a few years ago in a Jazz Night in America concert film:
Lionel Loueke on guitars, Terrace Martin on alto saxophone and synthesizers, James
Genus on electric bass, and Vinnie Colaiuta on drums. Their set list will combine
Hancock favorites and material from a highly anticipated forthcoming album.

Hancock has long been an exemplar of jazz crossover: he’s the rare instrumental 
virtuoso to credibly break through to a mainstream audience, let alone the pop album
chart. He received his first gold record in 1974 with _Head Hunters_, the self-titled
debut by his new jazz-funk band. At the time, the critic Lee Underwood stamped a
concert review with a smirk: “Mr. Communicate-With-A-Wider-Audience, Herbie Hancock,
opened to a full house recently, again pleasing the funkers while disappointing 
the more cerebrally oriented connoisseurs.”

Washington has earned a similar reputation since the release of his debut triple
album, _The Epic, _in 2015. A tenor saxophonist and bandleader with a talent for
the ecstatic, Washington is the key figure in what has lately been touted as a jazz
resurgence in popular culture. (“Mr. Communicate-With-A-Wider-Audience” is an epithet
he’d probably wear as a badge of honor.)

His follow-up to _The Epic_, a double album titled _Heaven and Earth_, received 
widespread acclaim last year, landing at No. 12 on the NPR Music Jazz Critics Poll.
And at the beginning of this year, Washington had a premiere at Sundance: _As Told
to G/D Thyself_, a dreamy, episodic short film, featuring the work of African-American
filmmakers like Bradford Young and Jenn Nkiru. (The film has just been made[ available for streaming](https://itunes.apple.com/us/music-movie/as-told-to-g-d-thyself/1455427714)
on Apple Music.)

Both Hancock and Washington will be busy in the weeks and months leading up to their
tour. Hancock, as chairman of the[ Herbie Hancock Institute of Jazz](https://hancockinstitute.org/),
is preparing for International Jazz Day festivities in Australia at the end of this
month, culminating in a global all-star concert in Melbourne on April 30. Hancock
is also scheduled to perform at the Beacon Theater in New York on Aug. 1, and at
the Newport Jazz Festival in Rhode Island on Aug. 2 and 3.

Washington is also headlining at Newport, on Aug. 3, but that’s far from the only
synchronicity he has with his co-headliner. Terrace Martin, a longtime Washington
associate, is another one. (It seems likely that Martin will also play with Washington
on the tour.) Hancock and Washington also both appeared on[ _You’re Dead!_](https://vimeo.com/103317489)_,
_the 2014 album by producer Flying Lotus. And there have been reliable reports that
Hancock’s next album-in-progress will feature Washington (along with Martin, Flying
Lotus and rapper Kendrick Lamar).

Moving out of the realm of the speculative, there’s a bit of precedent for this 
tour. In 2017, Hancock headlined a concert at the Hollywood Bowl, with Washington
as the opener. Reviewing that concert for the _Los Angeles Times, _Chris Barton 
painted the picture of a hometown victory lap for Washington, and a show of dominion
by Hancock.

“The only note missing in Hancock’s arsenal was a guest spot from Washington, a 
seemingly natural choice that could have built a bridge between two generations,”
Barton wrote. “A missed opportunity for a special moment, maybe — but if you were
listening, the bridge was there all along.”

**_Dates_**

_7/30/19 – Vienna, VA, Wolf Trap_

_8/4/19 – Philadelphia, PA, The Met_

_8/6/19 – Toronto, ONT, Roy Thompson Hall_

_8/7/19 – Huber Heights, OH, Rose Music Center at The Heights_

_8/8/19 – Detroit, MI, Aretha Franklin Amphitheatre_

_8/9 or 10/19 (TBC) – Chicago, IL, Huntington Bank Pavilion at Northerly Island_

_8/14/19 – Denver, CO, The Mission Ballroom_

_8/16/19 – Seattle, WA, Marymoor_

_8/17/19 – Portland, OR, Oregon Zoo_

_8/23/19 – Berkeley, CA, The Greek Theatre_

![Kamasi Washington, left, and Herbie Hancock. The jazz luminaries have announced
they will be going on tour together this year.](https://i0.wp.com/mediad.publicbroadcasting.
net/p/shared/npr/styles/placed_wide/nprshared/201904/711155861.jpg?w=640)

### _Related_