Herbie Hancock

Chameleon
(live @ Bonnaroo, 2005)

In a random music conversation, with a professor who is a huge jazz fan, the question "what do you know about John Mayer?" came up. I asked him if he was looking for a CD for his wife or kid or something, and then he responded, "No, he played with Herbie Hancock at some festival." After about ten minutes my jaw was recovered from the floor, and almost instantaneously a computer screen was in front of me, with Google on overdrive. Needless to say it was very true, and by the sound of the recording that boy can really play himself some guitar.

Mayer has been diversifying himself lately (same with that guy from Maroon 5). Mr. "Your Body is a Wonderland" was supposed to have a duet with Kanye on Late Registration, but that won't make the final mix by the looks of it (mixtape material, though). He's also playing on an upcoming B.B. King duet album, he did some kind of PBS thing with a country star, and he's been doing other various session/live work. It isn't that prior to all of this I thought John Mayer was a hack, but damn! If you're getting respect from Herbie Hancock and B.B. King, you're all right with me.

Hancock reformed the Headhunters for this Bonnaroo show (Roy Hargrove graced the stage along with Mayer and some other heavy cats). Herbie's new album is called Possibilities and features a number of collaborations (comes out August 30th). This version of "Chameleon" (which appears on the legendary Head Hunters album) showcases almost everyone in the group. Not surprisingly, the new Headhunters are as tight as can be. The recordings of Bonnaroo prove that Herbie never lost it and Mayer definitely gots it. Enjoy.