Herbie Hancock

Valerian And The City Of A Thousand Planets Review

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It's been 20 years since French filmmaker Luc Besson shook up the sci-fi genre with his inventive adventure The Fifth Element, and now he's back at at again with this adaptation of the popular comics by Pierre Cristin and Jean-Claude Mezieres. The film is a blast of visual animation, with a wildly over-complicated story involving time and space. It's all rather messy, but there's plenty of comedy and adventure to hold the interest, plus some offbeat romance and a hint of present-day politics.

Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets

It's set in the 28th century, when the human-created mega-city Alpha has travelled across the universe and is now home to beings from a thousand worlds. Valerian (Dane DeHaan) is a security officer working with his bickering partner Laureline (Cara Delevingne) to retrieve illegal contraband. After a mission on a desert planet with parallel dimension issues, they return to Alpha with haunting information about a lost civilisation, which seems to be at the centre of a secret war Alpha's Commander (Clive Owen) is waging. Amid a complex power struggle, Valerian and Laureline head into a no-go sector of Alpha to find out what's going on, getting help from a chatty pimp (Ethan Hawke), a submarine pirate (Alain Chabat) and a shape-shifting pole-dancer (Rihanna).

Besson fills the nearly two and a half hour running time with outlandishly colourful effects, lively action and lots of verbal banter, but not so much character development. Only Valerian and Laureline emerge as fully formed people, even as they conform rather oddly to gender expectations that are old fashioned today, let alone 700 years in the future. So their tetchy romance is enjoyable but rather aimless. Meanwhile, Rihanna has some strong moments once she stops dancing and changing costumes like she's in a music video. And Sam Spruell and Kris Wu make a solid double act as Alpha officials trying to work out what's going on.

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Valerian And The City Of A Thousand Planets Trailer

For Luc Besson's latest foray into the sci-fi stratosphere, he has decided to bring the popular graphic novel 'Valérian and Laureline' to life in a screen adaptation; Dane DeHaan and Cara Delevingne have been cast in the lead roles of Valerian and Laureline respectively.

A remix of The Beatles' much loved track 'Because' from their 1969 classic album 'Abbey Road' can be heard sound tracking the trailer.

Set thousands of years in the future, Valérian and Laureline journey far and wide around the universe at the behest of the government in charge of the human territories. Their mission is to keep the peace and make sure order is continually maintained. Valérian can't help but be enamoured by Laureline obvious beauty and strong mentality but she is hesitant toward his advances and tries to keep their relationship as professional as can be.

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Herbie Hancock at the Los Angeles Philharmonic's 2016/17 Opening Night Gala: 'Gershwin and the Jazz Age' held at Walt Disney Concert Hall - Los Angeles, California, United States - Tuesday 27th September 2016

Herbie Hancock, Gigi Hancock and Los Angeles Philharmonic

Keep On, Keepin' On Trailer

Justin Kauflin is a young piano genius who lost his sight following a rare eye condition, but who continued to be praised by the likes of multi-millionaire record producer Quincy Jones and trumpeter great Clark Terry. Kauflin first met Terry while he was studying at William Paterson University, and soon went on to be mentored frequently by him. An extraordinary relationship begins between them, with Terry encouraging Kauflin's phenomenal talent and helping him to conquer his stage fright. Soon enough though, Terry needs support of his own as he himself starts to lose his sight. As Kauflin helps him through his deterioating condition, Terry becomes a beacon of strength to Kauflin as he gears up for one of the scariest events of his life: the Thelonious Monk International Jazz Competition.

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Herbie Hancock - The 2014 SFJAZZ Gala on May 16, 2014 will feature performances by the legendary Herbie Hancock with the star-studded award-winning SFJAZZ Collective, the award-winning SFJAZZ High School All-Stars, and an AfterJam party with Charles Bradley, and special surprise guests. - San Francisco, California, United States - Saturday 17th May 2014

Pharrell Williams Explains The Reasons Behind His Son's Name, Rocket.

By Steven Williams in Lifestyle / Showbiz on 14 April 2014

Pharrell Williams Stevie Wonder Elton John Herbie Hancock Roy Ayers

Oscar-nominated hip-hop artist, Pharrell Williams, explains the reason he decided to name his son Rocket Ayers Williams.

Pharrell Williams, the hip-hop artist best known for the Oscar-nominated single 'Happy', revealed the meaning behind the name of his son Rocket Ayer, born in 2008. The name serves as a homage to Williams' favourite musicians, Roy Ayers, Elton John, Stevie Wonder and Herbie Hancock.

Williams stated that he and his wife, designer/model Helen Lasichanh, wanted to give their son an inspirational name while also honouring their musical idols. This was achieved through the name 'Rocket', as it serves as both a symbol of souring high, and is found in the name of a song by several artists that Williams enjoys.

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Snoop Dogg And John Kerry Living A Boss' Life In The White House [Video]

By Joe Wilde in Lifestyle / Showbiz on 28 December 2013

Snoop Dogg John Kerry Herbie Hancock

The two unlikely acquaintances bumped fists during a White House reception and the internet went wild

The Obama administration has seen some unlikely celebrity allies rub shoulders with the political elite, yet the recent encounter between Secretary of State John Kerry and Snoop Lion, aka Snoop Doggy Dogg, aka Snoopzilla, might be the best yet. The two exchanged words during a White House reception held for Kennedy Centre honourees, with the exchange ending in a fist bump between the two, an event that has caused the internet to go into meltdown mode.

Snoop Lion
Like we needed any more convincing that Snoop is a Boss

In the inaudible video, posted by Snoop on to his Instagram page, the two are seen involved in discussion, laughing with each other and slapping each other's shoulders, with their talk ending in a fist bump. Kerry's wife, Teresa Heinz Kerry, is stood next to the pair, chatting with other guests, whilst the two men engage each other in an animated chat. It's occasions and chance meetings like these that is why cellphone cameras are a godsend!

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Billy Joel, Herbie Hancock, Shirley MacLaine To Be Honored By Kennedy Center

By Lauren James in Lifestyle / Showbiz on 13 September 2013

Billy Joel Carlos Santana Shirley Maclaine Herbie Hancock

A pop singer, an Oscar-winning actress and an esteemed jazz composer to be recipients of one of the country's top cultural awards.

This year's Kennedy Center honorees include Singer/ songwriter Billy Joel, pianist and composer Herbie Hancock, musician Carlos Santana, and actress Shirley Maclaine, and opera soprano Martina Arroyo: all who will be honored in a fabulous ceremony at the John F. Kennedy Center on the 8th December this year.

Billy Joel To Be Honored By The Kennedy Center This Year.

Founded in 1978, the Kennedy Center Honors was created to recognise the lifetime achievements of performing artists who play a part in American culture, celebrated at a decadent Washington D.C. event attended by the country's top authorities. The Kennedy Center Honors recipients are selected by a committee from the fields of music, dance, theatre, opera, film, and television. Previous honors have been bestowed upon the likes of Aretha Franklin, Barbra Streisand, Sir Paul MacCartney, Meryl Streep, Luciano Pavarotti.

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Herbie Hancock and David Geffen - Saturday 12th February 2011 at Grammy Awards Los Angeles, California

Herbie Hancock, The Imagine Project Album Review

By Nick Gale in Music Reviews on 11 October 2010

Many things are a good idea in theory. Communism. Christopher Nolan films. Going to the pub for 'just one drink'. To this list must be added Herbie Hancock's new album, The Imagine Project. Hancock himself is a celebrated jazz pianist responsible for some very good albums and one genuinely great one, his 1973 jazz fusion extravaganza Head Hunters. His collaborators on The Imagine Project are a diverse crew of very talented musicians, drawn from all over the globe. So far so good. The songs they perform include a number of universally-acclaimed pop classics, such as The Beatles' 'Tomorrow Never Knows' and Sam Cooke's 'A Change Is Gonna Come'. Very little can go wrong, in theory. In practice, it must be acknowledged that the results are a mess, just as it must be admitted that Stalin's Russia was a murderous dictatorship, that Inception was an emotionally stunted logic puzzle of no lasting merit, and that one drink always become five. The truth hurts.