Herbie Hancock

In April of 2012 the Thelonious Monk Institute and International Jazz Day featured Herbie Hancock during the 50th anniversary of his song “WATERMELON MAN”. This historic concert took place in Congo Square in New Orleans, Louisiana.

Because of the history of this event Mr. Hancock, always known as an innovator wanted to push the technical boundaries further. What if Mr. Hancock would start his song in New Orleans and at the same time hand-picked musicians around the world would start his song in real time? Bands were chosen in Paris, France, Cape Town, South Africa and Rio Dejaneiro, Brazil.

Satellites and band start times had to be coordinated and synced so that a groups solo would coincide with the music being produced in New Orleans. Consequently, all bands had to start at the same time and hit their final note at the same time all in the same key.

BlaCon Media had absolute production and technical success. The company was backed by a team of over 50 technicians and engineers worldwide. Several production and audio trucks were used. Multiple satellites and teleports were utilized worldwide. To our knowledge this type of international coordination had only been attempted once before. Please enjoy the short video about this technical feat.