''The Imagine Project'' is the forty-sixth and latest studio album by American jazz pianist

Herbie Hancock Herbert Jeffrey Hancock (born April 12, 1940) is an American jazz pianist, keyboardist, bandleader, and composer. Hancock started his career with trumpeter Donald Byrd's group. He shortly thereafter joined the Miles Davis Quintet, where he help ...

released on June 22, 2010. Prominent guests include John Legend, India Arie, Seal, Dave Matthews,

Jeff Beck Geoffrey Arnold Beck (born 24 June 1944) is an English rock guitarist. He rose to prominence with the Yardbirds and after fronted the Jeff Beck Group and Beck, Bogert & Appice. In 1975, he switched to a mainly instrumental style, with a focus ...

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

, Tedeschi & Trucks, The Chieftains and

Los Lobos Los Lobos (, Spanish for "the Wolves") are an American 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 music such as cumbia, ...

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 Kora may refer to: Places India * Kora, Bardhaman, West Bengal * Kora, Bharuch, Gujarat * Korha, Katihar, also known as Kora, in Bihar * Kora, Kendrapara, Odisha * Kora, Wardha, Maharastra * Kora, Tumakuru, Karnataka * Toyaguda, Adilabad, Telan ...

with the Celtic flute, fiddle and Uilleann pipes. It was released in CD, digital download and vinyl.

Reception

George Varga of '' JazzTimes'' 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 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 – 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 Maria do Céu Whitaker Poças, known professionally as Céu (; born 17 April 1980), is a Brazilian singer-songwriter whose first American album was released on the Six Degrees Records label in April 2007. Career life She was born in São Pa ...

– vocals *Matt Chamberlain – drums *Michael Chaves – guitar * The Chieftains – featured artist * K.S. Chithra – vocals * Vinnie Colaiuta – drums, tambourine *Kevin Conneff – bodhran *Rodrigo "Funai" Costa – assistant engineering *Curumin – drums * Paulinho Da Costa – percussion * Toumani Diabaté – kora *Yaya Diarra – engineering *Fatoumata Diawara – vocals *Larry Goldings – Hammond B3 * Bernie Grundman – 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 file:Juanes ZMF 2015 jm49108.jpg, Juanes at the Zelt Musik Festival 2015 in Freiburg, Germany file:Juanes ZMF 2015 jm49211.jpg, Juanes at the Zelt Musik Festival 2015 in Freiburg, Germany Juan Esteban Aristizábal Vásquez (born 9 August 19 ...

– 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 Konono Nº1 is a musical group from Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo. They are known for their DIY aesthetic, combining electric likembé (a traditional instrument similar to the mbira) with vocals, dancers, and percussion instruments ...

– featured artist *Rhani Krija – percussion *Abdallah Ag Lamida "Intidao" – guitar, background vocals *Eyadou Ag Leche – bass guitar, background vocals * John Legend – 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 is best known for his work as a bassist. He has worked with trumpeter Miles Davis, pianist Herbie Hancock, singer Luther Vandros ...

– arrangement, bass, production *Bill Mims – assistant engineering *Mawangu Mingiedi – likembe *Alan Mintz – executive production, background vocals * Matt Molloy – flute * Paddy Moloney – tin whistle, Uilleann pipes *Mandy Montiero – groomer * James Morrison – vocals *Melinda Murphy – executive production, production coordination *

Áine Ní Ghlinn Áine Ní Ghlinn is a bilingual Irish journalist, poet, playwright and children's writer. She is the current Laureate na nÓg ("Children's Laureate"), —2023, the first to write exclusively in Irish. Life and work Ní Ghlinn was born in Count ...

– 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 – sitar * Wayne Shorter – 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