All That Jazz : Herbie Hancock Surfs a ‘Future Wave’

Winning a Grammy last year for his “Gershwin’s World” album hasn’t slowed down Herbie Hancock’s characteristically high-paced, far-reaching schedule. A closet techie since his “Rock-It” video expanded the horizons of the music video world in 1983 (it won five MTV awards), he is hosting “Future Wave,” a 30-minute magazine-style technology program for BET on Jazz.

Topics included in the first few shows will range from digital television and personal digital assistants to MP3 music devices.

“What we’re trying to do,” says Hancock, “is bring as much information as possible to the general public, to people who aren’t necessarily interested in all the technical details. So we have interviews with experts in various fields, as well as a lot of opportunities to see and hear the various equipment items and understand how they work.”

Paxton Baker, BET on Jazz’s senior vice president, describes Hancock as “a pioneer and an innovator in the new technologies that he has incorporated into the many genres of his music and visual arts. He is the perfect host for us.”

Although BET on Jazz is primarily available in the Southland via satellite systems, substantial portions of “Future Wave” will be presented on the widely seen Black Entertainment Network cable channel.

Meanwhile, Hancock continues to nurture his foundation, the Rhythm of Life. Among its current projects is the building of a center in a depressed area of San Francisco to teach classes in technology, music, photography, ceramics, pottery and other arts disciplines to young people who have little access to such opportunities.

“Development of ideas,” says Hancock. “That’s what we’re looking for. Because we need to have access to those ideas. That’s the real reason between closing the gap between the haves and the have-nots--because the next Einstein or Stephen Hawking is not necessarily going to be a white kid from Silicon Valley. Or maybe he or she will be. But we’re trying to make sure that, either way, all the avenues are open.”

And, as if that weren’t enough, Hancock, who turns 60 in April, is finally putting another record project together, looking into a further collaboration with longtime collaborator Wayne Shorter, and continuing his usual busy schedule of touring.

“It’s a good thing I have the tours,” he adds with a laugh. “Otherwise I wouldn’t get any vacations at all.”

SmoothSax.com: Saxophonist Richard Elliot has had four No. 1 smooth jazz albums. His 11th solo CD, “Chill Factor,” his first for Blue Note, debuted last month on Billboard’s contemporary jazz chart at No. 7, and the title single from the album has been No. 1 for three weeks on the radio charts. Not bad for a player who has specialized in funk-driven, rhythm & blues grooves and sweeping, late-night ballads.

But playing smooth jazz is only one of two successful careers Elliot has maintained since the mid-’90s. As co-founder and president of PacificNet, he heads one of the top three Internet service providers in Los Angeles. Organized in 1995 with tour manager Dave Pennells, PacificNet--which has pioneered high-speed data transfer, Internet access and one of the world’s first e-mail paging programs--now has more than 30 full-time employees working in a 4,000-square-foot data center.

“PacificNet has enabled me to express my creativity in a completely different arena,” says Elliot. “Sure, it’s demanding, but it helps take my mind off music totally, so when it’s time to pick up my sax and write or play concerts, I’m fresher. [It’s] a break from the usual grind of making records and touring.”

Tributes and Awards: The Los Angeles Jazz Society holds its 17th annual Jazz Tribute and Awards dinner and concert Saturday night at the City of Angels. Heading the list of awards is the 1999 Tribute Honoree Award, which will be presented to guitarist Kenny Burrell, director of jazz studies at UCLA and a highly regarded jazz educator.

Other awards will go to cornetist-educator Bill Berry (jazz educator award), keyboardist-composer Roger Kellaway (composer-arranger award) and photographer Herman Leonard (who will receive a special award from the Jazz Photographers Assn.). Eighteen-year-old bassist Miles Mosley will receive the Shelly Manne Memorial New Talent Award.

Performing at the gala event are the Kenny Burrell All-Stars (Gerald Wiggins, piano; John Clayton, bass; Jeff Clayton, alto saxophone; Bobby Rodriguez, trumpet; Sherman Ferguson, drums); Roger Kellaway in a duo with cellist Joan Jeanrenaud; Mosley leading a youthful quartet with Zach Rae on piano, Kevin Kanner on drums and John Cody on vocals; and the duo of harpist-pianist Corky Hale and bassist Richard Simon.

* The Los Angeles Jazz Society’s 17th annual Jazz Tribute and Awards Dinner-Concert, City of Angels, 5550 Grosvenor, Los Angeles, Saturday. Dinner at 5; concert at 7:30 p.m. Admission, $25 for concert only; $75 for concert and dinner. Information: (818) 347-3046.