12 Mar All Lined Up

Posted at 11:57h in Blog by

The 2012 SunFest lineup is up! And it’s chock-full of goodness.

My highlight is without a doubt the incomparable Herbie Hancock. I’m a jazz dilettante, but you must understand that Herbie’s greatness transcends jazz. “Rockit,” anyone?

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dHh_imdLKCk[/youtube]

From his time as a piano man for Miles Davis’ ’60s quintet to his current status as one of jazz’s great ambassadors, Herbie’s keyb0ard-driven musical vision has spanned, defied and unified genre. He bridges post-bop, fusion, funk, world music, rock, electronic, hip-hop, African percussion, and a lot of love into a style that’s equally challenging, accessible, and rewarding.

These days, he usually plays with a crack trio on bass, guitar and drums and delves into his classic catalog with aplomb. I saw him in Seattle several years ago, in a big field on a sunny day—a setting not unlike what we’ll get at SunFest. By the time he dropped “Watermelon Man” and “Chameleon,” what began as a relaxed, loungy shmooze turned into a loose-limbed dance party. It was an experience I’ll happily relive.

Michael Franti and Spearhead are reliably one of the most uplifting, energetic live acts today. Franti has been around since the mid-’80s, first as a fiery hip-hop and electro-industrial MC, and then with Spearhead, his soul-funk-reggae outfit of the last 15 years or so. When I first saw the band in its native San Francisco in 1999, they dwelled on the fringes of hippiedom. But the perennially barefoot Franti had a mainstream breakthrough in 2010 when his dancehall-inflected “Say Hey (I Love You)” landed in the Top 20 and appeared simultaneously in commercials for Corona and Playstation. The song, like the band, is irresistible.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ehu3wy4WkHs[/youtube]

For pure dance-pop bliss, you won’t find a better band than Passion Pit. What started as a dorm-room-made musical love letter from bandleader Michael Angelakos to his girlfriend has morphed into a five-man floor-filling machine. Passion Pit’s synth-heavy songs are simultaneously warm and icy, surging over rubbery, bounce-house beats and Angelakos’ amorous falsetto. With a new album on the way this summer via Columbia Records—Angelakos has reportedly been working with Rick Rubin as a contract production guru of sorts—the band is bound to unload a slew of new material at SunFest. Til then, first-album songs like “To Kingdom Come” (which bears a surprising melodic resemblance to Rod Stewarts’ disco anthem “Young Turks”) are enough to tide over fans.

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xh0ueJN5rvA[/youtube]

Three more words for you: Snoop. EmmEffing. Dogg.

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w1cAutAzRBE&feature=player_embedded[/youtube]