Aug 26, 2025 1:53 PM
Blindfold Test: Buster Williams
Buster Williams, who at the age of 83 has been on the scene for 65 years, had never done a Blindfold Test. The first…
Herbie Hancock’s appearance on Austin City Limits is set to air nationally on PBS on Jan. 20.
(Photo: Courtesy Austin City Limits)Herbie Hancock’s responsible for a few firsts in jazz and popular music. And now he’s recorded his debut appearance on Austin City Limits.
The long-running performance show—which began in 1976, the same year Hancock released Secrets—has included visits from country singer Jason Isbell and enduring psych act The Black Angels this season. Hancock’s episode is set to air Saturday on PBS affiliates.
For the keyboardist and bandleader’s installment of the show, he’s joined by multi-instrumentalist Terrace Martin, drummer Vinnie Colaiuta and bassist James Genus as the quartet reinvigorates some classics, including “Cantaloupe Island” and “Chameleon.”
But there’s also a rendition of a relatively new song, “Secret Sauce,” that Hancock’s been playing for the last several months. It jibes with Hanock’s history and deomonstrates that the bandleader’s well of compositional creativity hasn’t nearly been exhausted.
Hancock will play the Los Angeles Philharmonic on Jan. 27. For information on this and other tour dates, visit Hancock’s website. DB
“What I got from Percy was the dignity of playing the bass,” Buster Williams said of Percy Heath.
Aug 26, 2025 1:53 PM
Buster Williams, who at the age of 83 has been on the scene for 65 years, had never done a Blindfold Test. The first…
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