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[Off The Record]
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Herbie Hancock
FUTURE 2 FUTURE
(TRANSPARENT MUSIC)

What’s represented here is not so much the future as the present with some of the past thrown in. That means plenty of drum ’n’ bass, with contributions by bassist/producer Bill Laswell, hip-hoppers Carl Craig, DJ Rob Swift, and A Guy Called Gerald, and, most important, Wayne Shorter. " The Essence " is typical — the signifying drum ’n’ bass spitter-spatter of snare and hi-hat over a throbbing ostinato while Chaka Khan delivers new-agey lyrics (but not without a requisite growl to give the whole thing an appropriate deep-soul gravitas). And then there’s Herbie, his single-note runs on acoustic piano expanding and contracting with that combination of percussive rhythmic fire and legato elasticity that’s his alone. His wave-like repeating cycle of organ chords on " This Is Rob Swift " insinuates itself as the tune’s hook — and if it sounds a bit like MM&W, well, where do you think Medeski learned it?

But it’s Shorter who lifts the project to a cut above merely pleasant, his warm, fluid soprano sax taking perfectly to the mix of glitched-up beats and old-school fusion. In fact, " Tony Williams " (with a drum track from the late, great tubsmith) could be early-’70s Herbie or Weather Report, with Wayne’s horn lines slithering over its cushy synth chords and some of Laswell’s updated bass oomph. And when Shorter takes out the tenor on " Virtual Hornets, " you realize that even his squeak is a signature. Not that there aren’t some soft, flittering futuristic Tinker Bell moments I could do without ( " Alphabeta " ), but for the most part Hancock and Shorter provide the content that’s missing from so much of contemporary ambient dance-club jazz.

BY JON GARELICK

Issue Date: September 27 - October 4, 2001