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By Bill Beuttler (Boston Globe, April 20, 2004)

As Herbie Hancock's much-anticipated tour of four trio performances with Dave Holland and Jack DeJohnette was wrapping up at Symphony Hall on Sunday night, the pianist told the near-capacity crowd of more than 2,300 about the fun the three of them had swapping old Miles Davis stories while traveling by bus here from previous stops in Milwaukee, Chicago, and Toronto.

"You should have been there," Hancock said.

In some sense, though, the audience got the next best thing. Not only did the show prove to be a phenomenal night of interplay among three tremendously gifted musicians, it was a rare chance to watch these onetime Davis sidemen interact as friends.

The three, touring for the first time as a trio, started off with a liberated version of the Cole Porter tune "I Love You," one of the half-dozen pieces the trio stretched out throughout the four concerts. Bassist Holland kept things anchored for the others' free flights on piano and drums, and he smiled repeatedly at his bandmates' inventiveness. On his solo, he seemed to play with even more urgency than he showed when his quintet came through town a few weeks ago. Holland showed off his compositional skills on his adventurous tune "Pathways," the second piece of the night.

It started with him on his upright, with DeJohnette emphasizing his tom-toms and cymbals over his snare. Hancock then took a percussive solo heavy on harmonic colors over a steady bass line, and Holland followed with a frenzied solo. As the piece concluded, Holland waved an appreciative thumbs up to Hancock.

Hancock introduced the first of three compositions of his own by noting that "this is something old," then sitting down and launching into an extended solo intro. A sly smile crept onto his face as he eased into the opening notes of his 1964 piece "Cantaloupe Island." Holland's solo had a funkiness and fluidity you'd expect more from an electric bass, and DeJohnette's playing also had a distinctly funky groove to it much of the way through. Two fast unison chords ended the piece and prompted large smiles from all three musicians.

Hancock's ballad "Sonrisa" -- Spanish for "smile" and last heard on disc on Hancock's 1997 duet session with Wayne Shorter, "1+1" -- came next. Its slow tempo and stateliness set up a nice contrast for the following Stevie Wonder tune, "You've Got It Bad Girl," which the three had recorded together as part of a sextet on Hancock's 1996 CD "The New Standard."

The Wonder tune opened with DeJohnette playing solo, then quickly morphed into a breakneck jazz romp. DeJohnette outdid himself in a second big solo later in the piece that left him winded as Hancock and Holland joined back in.

As an encore, the three concluded their "maiden voyage" together with the Hancock standard of that name. Let's hope there are more journeys to come. 

© Bill Beuttler