Possibilities

Herbie Hancock has had a truly amazing and varied career: the pianist/composer has played classic post bop, spacey electro-acoustic jazz, funk, and even had an MTV hit with “Rockit,” a cut from his 1983 album, Future Shock. He continues to work on all sorts of projects, and on the 2005 release Possibilities, he collaborates with a number of pop artists. The album is very much a collection of songs, but songs that have been expanded to provide ample room for solos, especially Hancock’s. On “Safiatou,” which features Carlos Santana on guitar and the Beninese singer Angelique Kidjo on vocals, Hancock has no trouble jumping right into the Afro-Latin groove. The pianist sensitively accompanies Christina Aguilera, who turns in a striking rendition of the old Leon Russell chestnut, “A Song for You.” Jonny Lang and Joss Stone appear on “When Love Comes to Town,” a latter-day slice of blues-rock that is lifted into another realm when Hancock makes his harmonically altering entrance. One of the album’s highlights is a hushed, mysterious version of Paul Simon’s “I Do It for Your Love.” Simon impresses as the band creates wonderfully moody music behind him.