Thanks to a tip from some old colleagues of mine, yesterday I found myself a few blocks from Gearwire's downtown Chicago offices at a cocktail reception for a joint project of the Chicago Public Schools / After School Matters program.

A swanky soiree' in a student art gallery, the proceedings included a student trio of piano, bass and alto sax working out a Bill Evans tune while waiters floated hors d'oevures through a small, hungry crowd. Checking out the set from the corner of the room I spied none other than Mr. Herbie Hancock. I thought the kid on piano looked nervous!

I did two things: First, I put down my chicken meatball in its filo-dough shell and then I whipped out my Palm Treo in voice-memo mode. I muscled in to record the following very quick Gearwire-style interview with Chicago's own giant of jazz-fusion-funk harmonic exploration, Herbie Hancock.

Rob: Herbie, what are your keyboards these days? Where are you getting your Clavinet sound from?

HH: I have a Korg OASYS, and that's plugged into a Macintosh. For tour I'm using an iMac. We run Logic too. I also have a Mac Mini with a library. I also have a Radias by Korg and a U45? It's a small keyboard.

Rob: And how about the rack? What's in there?

HH: What I do have in the rack is the (Muse) Receptor. In that, I run Ivory, and some other stuff. Colossus from East West. There's more. I sure remember the sounds!

Rob: Do you find it sometimes makes it harder to recall the screens and names since the Receptor has no native display?

HH: Yeah! Excactly. But I am using a graphical interface. There's no sequencing going on live but I do use Logic to program softsynths on the Mac and I'm controlling with the Oasys. But I use Logic to perform certain functions, its the user-friendly way to get to the softsyths.

Rob: What's on the horizon for you this year? Going on the road?

HH: We're going to be in New Zealand and Australia by April 15th. The combo is Vinny Colaiuta on drums, Nate East on bass and Lionel Loueke on guitar.

Rob: Herbie, thanks for sharing.

HH: Anytime.