American Jazz Herbie Hancock Aspires to Expand his Training Institute to Saudi Arabia

0 1 minute read

American jazz legend Herbie Hancock has shared his wishes to expand his music training program to Saudi Arabia, Arab News reported.

“We’d love to have a presence here in some way, you know, and some activities here. Then this would be a place I could visit and have my footprint here in some way. That would be absolutely amazing,” Hancock told Arab News.

Hancock’s remarks came during a week-long visit to Riyadh accompanied by Janis Siegel, and the Herbie Hancock Institute of Jazz Performance Ensemble.

“She was fantastic … she has enormous potential, extremely talented. The way she was improvising and it was really great,” Hancock said.

“Great Experience”

Describing the experience of performing in Riyadh, the jazz legend stated that “It was really, really a great experience.”

“I was just overwhelmed when I looked at it and saw the incredible design, and the futuristic parts of its display were amazing because there’s a sense of history there, but a sense of the future in its design,” he added.

Several Events

Interestingly, Hancock and his delegation seized the opportunity and held a masterclass for Saudi music students at the Music Hub.

Furthermore, they organized a roundtable discussion with female Saudi artists which focused on women in the arts.

As for musicians, Hancock held an event with Saudi traditional musicians at the Ahmed Mater Studio.

“We’ve gone to Ahmed Matar’s studio and met some of the young students that are working there, I saw his library. I saw so much of his equipment. Some of it’s very old … that he bought over the several years that he’s been really mastering his work. And, I mean, he’s a very learned person. And, and he’s a lover of jazz too, he had a bunch of jazz records, (a) bunch of my records that were there,” Hancock said.

Groove on The Grass Brings Music Festivities to Riyadh

PinkCamel Festival: Dance to Music Beats in Jeddah

Short link :

Post Views: 109