''The Imagine Project'' is the forty-first studio album by American jazz pianist

Herbie Hancock Herbert Jeffrey Hancock (born April 12, 1940) is an American jazz musician, bandleader, and composer. He started his career with trumpeter Donald Byrd's group. Hancock soon joined the Miles Davis Quintet, where he helped to redefine the role of ...

released on June 22, 2010. Prominent guests include

John Legend John Roger Stephens (born December 28, 1978), known professionally as John Legend, is an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. He began his musical career working behind the scenes for other artists, playing piano on Lauryn Hill's " Every ...

, India Arie, Seal, Dave Matthews,

Jeff Beck Geoffrey Arnold Beck (24 June 1944 – 10 January 2023) was an English musician. He rose to prominence as the guitarist of the rock band the Yardbirds, and afterwards founded and fronted the Jeff Beck Group and Beck, Bogert & Appice. In 1975, ...

Chaka Khan Yvette Marie Stevens (born March 23, 1953), better known by her stage name Chaka Khan ( ), is an American singer. Known as the " Queen of Funk", her career has spanned more than five decades beginning in the early 1970s as the lead vocalist of ...

, Tedeschi &

Trucks A truck or lorry is a motor vehicle designed to transport freight, carry specialized payloads, or perform other utilitarian work. Trucks vary greatly in size, power, and configuration, but the vast majority feature body-on-frame construction ...

The Chieftains The Chieftains were a traditional Irish folk band formed in Dublin in 1962, by Paddy Moloney, Seán Potts and Michael Tubridy. Their sound, which is almost entirely instrumental and largely built around uilleann pipes, has become synonymous w ...

and

Los Lobos Los Lobos (, Spanish for "the Wolves") is a Mexican American rock group, rock band from East Los Angeles, California. Their music is influenced by rock and roll, Tex-Mex, country, zydeco, folk, R&B, blues, brown-eyed soul, and traditional ...

Background

The album, which was recorded in many locations throughout the world and features collaborations with various artists, was complemented by a documentary about the recording process. Hancock's interpretations of these songs are cross-cultural. His version of "Imagine" was inspired by the Congolese group Konono N°1, and won the 2011 Grammy Award for "Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals" (the final year that that award was given). The instruments used on "The Times, They Are A' Changin" combine the West African kora with the Celtic flute, fiddle and

Uilleann pipes The uilleann pipes ( or , ), also known as Union pipes and sometimes called Irish pipes, are the characteristic national bagpipe of Ireland. Their current name is a partial translation of the Irish language terms (literally, "pipes of the ...

. It was released in CD, digital download and vinyl.

Reception

George Varga of ''

JazzTimes ''JazzTimes'' was an American print magazine devoted to jazz. Published 10 times a year, it was founded in Washington, D.C., in 1970 by Ira Sabin as the newsletter ''Radio Free Jazz'' to complement his record store. Coverage After a decade ...

'' noted "This hit-or-miss quality is present throughout the album, which-despite its diverse lineup and lofty ambitions-too often errs on the side of caution and politeness, when risk-taking and surprise would have made this a recording truly worthy of Hancock's expansive skills and imagination". John Eyles of

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

wrote "Ironically, in 2005 Hancock was elected to the Jazz Hall of Fame, since when the jazz aspects of his music have waned. Although The Imagine Project is entertaining and engaging, its jazz content is limited. Fans will hope that the 70-year-old still has another great jazz album in him – preferably alongside Shorter".

Track listing

Personnel

Credits adapted from AllMusic *

– arrangement, keyboards, piano, prepared piano, production, background vocals *

Alex Acuña Alejandro Neciosup Acuña (born December 12, 1944), known professionally as Alex Acuña, is a Peruvian–American jazz drummer and percussionist. He has also worked as an educator at University of California, Los Angeles, and Berklee College of ...

– percussion *John Alagia – production *Ibrahim Ag Alhabib – background vocals *Abdallah Ag Alhousseyni – acoustic guitar, background vocals *Saïd Ag Ayad – djembe, background vocals *Lawrence Azerrad – design *Danny Barnes – banjo, bass, guitar *

– guitar *Chris Bolster – assistant engineering *Richard Bravo – percussion *Kofi Burbridge – Hammond B3, vocals *Oteil Burbridge – bass, vocals *Rodrigo Campos – percussion *Denis Caribaux – engineering * Céu – vocals *Matt Chamberlain – drums *Michael Chaves – guitar *

– featured artist * K.S. Chithra – vocals *

Vinnie Colaiuta Vincent Peter Colaiuta (born February 5, 1956) is an American drummer known for his technical mastery who has worked as a session musician in many genres. He was inducted into the ''Modern Drummer'' Hall of Fame in 1996 and the ''Classic Drumme ...

– drums, tambourine *Kevin Conneff – bodhran *Rodrigo "Funai" Costa – assistant engineering *Curumin – drums *

Paulinho Da Costa Paulinho da Costa (, born Paulo Roberto da Costa on May 31, 1948) is a Brazilian percussionist. Beginning his career as a samba musician in Brazil, he moved to the United States in the early 1970s and worked with Brazilian bandleader Sérgio Me ...

– percussion * Toumani Diabaté – kora *Yaya Diarra – engineering *Fatoumata Diawara – vocals *Larry Goldings – Hammond B3 *

Bernie Grundman Bernie Grundman (born 16 December 1943, Minneapolis) is an American audio engineer. He is most known for his mastering work and his studio, Bernie Grundman Mastering, which he opened in 1984 in Hollywood. The studio, which includes engineers Chr ...

– mastering *Roland Guillotel – engineering *Helik Hadar – engineering, mixing *Elaga Ag Hamid – guitar, background vocals *Jessica Hancock – production coordination, background vocals * Lisa Hannigan – vocals *Ken Hertz – arrangement, production * David Hidalgo – vocals *The Hill-Tones – background vocals *Graham Hope – assistant engineering *Shantau Hudikar – engineering * India.Arie – vocals *Anand Iyer – second engineer *

Juanes Juan Esteban Aristizábal Vásquez (born 9 August 1972), known professionally as Juanes, is a Colombian musician who was a member of the Rock music, rock band Ekhymosis and is now a solo artist. Since releasing his solo debut album ''Fíjate B ...

– arrangement, vocals, production * Manu Katché – drums *Bhawai Shankar Kathak – pakhawaj drum * Seán Keane – fiddle *Alan Kelly – assistant engineering *

– vocals *Abhishek Khandelwal – assistant engineering, Pro-Tools *Douglas Kirkland – photography *Andrew Kitchen – assistant engineering * Larry Klein – bass, keyboards, background vocals * K'naan – vocals * Konono Nº1 – featured artist *Rhani Krija – percussion *Abdallah Ag Lamida "Intidao" – guitar, background vocals *Eyadou Ag Leche – bass guitar, background vocals *

– vocals *Hugo Legrand – assistant engineering *Gustavo Lenza – engineering *Frank Lillis – lyric translation *Lionel Loueke – guitar *

– featured artist *Jim Lowe – engineering *Conrad Lozano – vocals *Lucas Martins – electric bass * Dave Matthews – guitar, vocals *Mike Mattison – vocal arrangement, vocals *Ndofusu Mbiyavanga – percussion *Wagner Bigu Meirinho – assistant engineering *Cesar Mejia – engineering *Dani Michelle – wardrobe *

Marcus Miller William Henry Marcus Miller Jr. (born June 14, 1959) is an American musician, songwriter, and record producer. He has worked with trumpeter Miles Davis, pianist Herbie Hancock, singer Luther Vandross, and saxophonists Wayne Shorter and David Sa ...

– arrangement, bass, production *Bill Mims – assistant engineering *Mawangu Mingiedi – likembe *Alan Mintz – executive production, background vocals * Matt Molloy – flute *

Paddy Moloney Paddy Moloney (; 1 August 1938 – 12 October 2021) was an Irish musician, composer, and record producer. He co-founded and led the Irish musical group the Chieftains, playing on all of their 44 albums. He was particularly associated with the re ...

– tin whistle, Uilleann pipes *Mandy Montiero – groomer * James Morrison – vocals *Melinda Murphy – executive production, production coordination * Áine Ní Ghlinn – lyric translation *Chris Owens – assistant engineering, Pro-Tools * Dean Parks – guitar *Sridhar Parthasarthy – mridangam *Louie Pérez – vocals *Cindi Peters – production coordination * P!nk – vocals *Maria Ruvalcaba – background vocals *Jaideep Sahni – translation * Oumou Sangare – vocals *Brian Scheuble – engineering *Eric Schilling – engineering * Seal – vocals *

Anoushka Shankar Anoushka Hemangini Shankar (born 9 June 1981) is a British-American sitar player and musician of Indian descent, as well as occasional writer. She performs across multiple genres and styles—Indian classical, classical and contemporary, acoust ...

– sitar *

Wayne Shorter Wayne Shorter (August 25, 1933 – March 2, 2023) was an American jazz saxophonist, composer and bandleader. Shorter came to mainstream prominence in 1959 upon joining Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers, for whom he eventually became the primary comp ...

– saxophone (soprano) *Jaime Sickora – assistant engineering *Patrick Spain – assistant engineering *Satyajit Talwalkar – tabla *Ibrahim Tangara – engineering * Susan Tedeschi – vocals * Tinariwen – featured artist *Bobby Tis – engineering *Fernando Tobon – guitar *Alhassane Ag Touhami – arrangement, guitar, vocals * Derek Trucks – arrangement, guitar, production *Visi Vincent – drums *Marty Wall – engineer *Pete Wallace – keyboards *George Whitty – keyboards, sound design * Tal Wilkenfeld – bass *Bill Winn – engineering *Richard Woodcraft – engineering

Charts

Certifications

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Imagine Project, The 2010 albums Herbie Hancock albums Albums produced by John Alagía