Every past edition of the Abu Dhabi Festival has brought a musical legend to the capital.
This year is no different, with the arrival of the American jazz maestro Herbie Hancock.
The 73-year-old pianist is set to take the Emirates Palace stage on Friday with a sold-out performance focusing on choice selections from a career spanning five decades.
All those years saw the Chicago native dart from being a hot jazz commodity to a popular star with hit singles and multiple Grammy awards.
Despite the eclectic albums, which saw him explore jazz, fusion, funk, R&B and electro, Hancock says each project begins the same way: “The first thing is the purpose. Why I should do this? From that I develop the concept of what it is that I want to do to answer that why.”
Born in Chicago in 1940, Hancock was a child prodigy and performed Mozart’s Piano Concerto No 26 in D Major with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra at the age of 11.
His career took an even bigger leap when, in 1963, he received a phone call from the late Miles Davis to join his quintet.
With Davis leading the way on the trumpet, Hancock slotted in perfectly alongside the bassist Ron Carter, the drummer Tony Williams and the saxophonist Wayne Shorter.
In what is now referred to in jazz circles as Davis’s second great quintet, the group went on to cut six studio albums embodying Davis’s revolutionary “time, no changes” ethos – a fluid approach that relied heavily on improvisation.
Hancock remembers being awed by what was required.
Comfortable playing his position as band leader or part of an orchestra, Hancock says Davis treated all members as equals.
“Miles always told us that we were being paid to try new things,” he recalls. “So in other words, as along as you are trying this and trying that then he is happy.”
And what would happen if some of the experimentation didn’t work?
“Miles would just say, ‘Don’t worry, I will take care of that.’
“This means that he put a lot of trust in us and gave us so much freedom, but at the same time he had faith in his ability to bring it all back together no matter what we did.”
Hancock eventually left the group in 1969, but the lessons from the experience endured with him as he formed his own bands and released a series of experimental and avant-garde recordings.
Hancock’s first big commercial success came with 1973’s Head Hunters. Hailed as a masterpiece, he married the jazz spirit of improvisation with rugged beats found in funk and soul.
Hancock’s dizzying solos on the synthesisers also announced the instrument’s arrival to the jazz world.
He returned to mainstream again in 2007 with River: The Joni Letters, a star-studded covers album dedicated to his close friend, the singer-songwriter Joni Mitchell.
The album’s success, including a 2008 Grammy award for Album of the Year, whetted Hancock’s appetite for more collaborations.
His latest release, 2010’s The Imagine Project, found Hancock produce an album recorded in seven different languages (English artists include John Legend, Pink and Seal) in 11 different cities.
Once again, it began with a question.
“I was thinking about this 21st century and what it is going to be about. I believe it would be a century of humanity,” Hancock says.
“It doesn’t look that way right now because the world is in such turmoil from so many different things, not only from man’s relationship with man but our relationship with the environment. But I believe that many of the solutions that we need will come as a result of various backgrounds, cultures and religions coming together in mutual respect.”
Talking about his Abu Dhabi show, Hancock says fans should expect classic works with a twist.
“I will probably be playing some pieces that have been most popular over the years.
“But these pieces have evolved and I don’t play them the same way they are on the records. I may start that way and they may segue to pieces that may not be that familiar and then come back. I like to have an element of surprise to each show.”
It also underscores the theme of transformation echoing throughout Hancock’s career.
It’s not just a musical style, he says, it’s his approach to life: “Change is a very important colour for life,” he says.
“It allows for continual evolution, continual development, continual surprises and growth. I welcome change. I love change. It is one of my most important inspirations.”
• Herbie Hancock performs at the Emirates Palace Auditorium on Friday at 7pm. Tickets are sold out
sasaeed@thenational.ae
In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
Hamilton’s 2017
Australia - 2nd; China - 1st; Bahrain - 2nd; Russia - 4th; Spain - 1st; Monaco - 7th; Canada - 1st; Azerbaijan - 5th; Austria - 4th; Britain - 1st; Hungary - 4th; Belgium - 1st; Italy - 1st; Singapore - 1st; Malaysia - 2nd; Japan - 1st; United States - 1st; Mexico - 9th
Company Fact Box
Company name/date started: Abwaab Technologies / September 2019
Founders: Hamdi Tabbaa, co-founder and CEO. Hussein Alsarabi, co-founder and CTO
Based: Amman, Jordan
Sector: Education Technology
Size (employees/revenue): Total team size: 65. Full-time employees: 25. Revenue undisclosed
Stage: early-stage startup
Investors: Adam Tech Ventures, Endure Capital, Equitrust, the World Bank-backed Innovative Startups SMEs Fund, a London investment fund, a number of former and current executives from Uber and Netflix, among others.
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England-South Africa Test series
1st Test England win by 211 runs at Lord's, London
2nd Test South Africa win by 340 runs at Trent Bridge, Nottingham
3rd Test July 27-31 at The Oval, London
4th Test August 4-8 at Old Trafford, Manchester
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Director: Jon M Chu
Starring: Constance Wu, Henry Golding, Michelle Yeon, Gemma Chan
Four stars
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A foster couple or family must:
- be Muslim, Emirati and be residing in the UAE
- not be younger than 25 years old
- not have been convicted of offences or crimes involving moral turpitude
- be free of infectious diseases or psychological and mental disorders
- have the ability to support its members and the foster child financially
- undertake to treat and raise the child in a proper manner and take care of his or her health and well-being
- A single, divorced or widowed Muslim Emirati female, residing in the UAE may apply to foster a child if she is at least 30 years old and able to support the child financially
A Cat, A Man, and Two Women
Junichiro Tamizaki
Translated by Paul McCarthy
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Real estate tokenisation project
Dubai launched the pilot phase of its real estate tokenisation project last month.
The initiative focuses on converting real estate assets into digital tokens recorded on blockchain technology and helps in streamlining the process of buying, selling and investing, the Dubai Land Department said.
Dubai’s real estate tokenisation market is projected to reach Dh60 billion ($16.33 billion) by 2033, representing 7 per cent of the emirate’s total property transactions, according to the DLD.
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Total fights: 32
Wins: 28
Wins by KO: 26
Losses: 4
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Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham
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Formula Middle East Calendar (Formula Regional and Formula 4)
Round 1: January 17-19, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 2: January 22-23, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 3: February 7-9, Dubai Autodrome – Dubai
Round 4: February 14-16, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 5: February 25-27, Jeddah Corniche Circuit – Saudi Arabia
Key figures in the life of the fort
Sheikh Dhiyab bin Isa (ruled 1761-1793) Built Qasr Al Hosn as a watchtower to guard over the only freshwater well on Abu Dhabi island.
Sheikh Shakhbut bin Dhiyab (ruled 1793-1816) Expanded the tower into a small fort and transferred his ruling place of residence from Liwa Oasis to the fort on the island.
Sheikh Tahnoon bin Shakhbut (ruled 1818-1833) Expanded Qasr Al Hosn further as Abu Dhabi grew from a small village of palm huts to a town of more than 5,000 inhabitants.
Sheikh Khalifa bin Shakhbut (ruled 1833-1845) Repaired and fortified the fort.
Sheikh Saeed bin Tahnoon (ruled 1845-1855) Turned Qasr Al Hosn into a strong two-storied structure.
Sheikh Zayed bin Khalifa (ruled 1855-1909) Expanded Qasr Al Hosn further to reflect the emirate's increasing prominence.
Sheikh Shakhbut bin Sultan (ruled 1928-1966) Renovated and enlarged Qasr Al Hosn, adding a decorative arch and two new villas.
Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan (ruled 1966-2004) Moved the royal residence to Al Manhal palace and kept his diwan at Qasr Al Hosn.
Sources: Jayanti Maitra, www.adach.ae
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Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
