Herbie Hancock versus Ravel on 'In Tune'

[Tony Halstead]

Did anybody hear the appalling Herbie Hancock monstrosity - travesty even, that Suzy Klein praised as 'beautiful playing' on 'In Tune', describing it at as being 'the 2nd movement of the Ravel G major Piano concerto'?

It was definitely no such thing, it was an extract of a work called 'Piano Concerto in G' by 'Herbie Hancock' which turned out to be a jazzed-up version - none too tastefully - of the sublime 2nd movement of the beatific G major concerto by Ravel.
The various fiddly and distracting bits of 'up-tempo' pianisms that he added to this masterpiece were, to me, quite sickening.
I simply can't believe that Hancock's 'Concerto' doesn't infringe any laws of copyright!

[french frank]

But apart from that, waldhorn ... ?



I wonder how it struck the jazz aficionados?

[aka Calum Da Jazbo]

heard a bit and was not persuaded to listen further....

[Boilk]

... it was an extract of a work called 'Piano Concerto in G' by 'Herbie Hancock' which turned out to be a jazzed-up version - none too tastefully - of the sublime 2nd movement of the beatific G major concerto by Ravel.
The various fiddly and distracting bits of 'up-tempo' pianisms that he added to this masterpiece were, to me, quite sickening.
I simply can't believe that Hancock's 'Concerto' doesn't infringe any laws of copyright!

If he added "fiddly and distracting bits of 'up-tempo' pianisms" and it was "jazzed-up" then I guess that may or may not circumvent the copyright issue. But it clearly doesn't infringe copyright laws if it (presumbly) had publisher permission for a recording by Decca. Now do you believe it?

Incidentally, most of that CD contains Herbie doing Gershwin...and didn't Ravel order scores of any new Gershwin that came out? So Maurice might have been less sickened than Waldhorn at hearing this!

[Bax-of-Delights]

It is one of Rob Cowan's "Desert Island Discs" i.e. he regularly wheels it out either playing it straight or as an "innocent ear" piece (sic). Ms.Klein just nicked it from his box of CDs marked "favourites - play once a fortnight".