Herbie Hancock on International Jazz Day

Herbie Hancock on International Jazz Day

Jeff Kravitz/WireImage

Herbie Hancock was instrumental in making Monday the first International Jazz Day.

For Herbie Hancock, jazz is more than just music. It is a unifying life force.

And one so important that he has led a movement to celebrate it with its own day: Monday is the first-ever International Jazz Day, and the United Nations will be stage a concert to be simulcast on the Internet to millions.

Co-hosts for the night include Robert De Niro, Michael Douglas, Morgan Freeman and Quincy Jones.

Among the performers joining Hancock will be Tony Bennett, Terence Blanchard, Jimmy Heath, Chaka Khan, Wynton Marsalis, Christian McBride, Dianne Reeves, Esperanza Spalding and a slew of music greats from around the world.

George Duke will serve as musical director.

Hancock, who has been the UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador for Intercultural Dialogue since July, spoke with the Daily News about Mondays significance.

NEWS: When did the idea for International Jazz Day come to you and how?

HANCOCK: Im the chairman of the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz. Ive been involved with that organization since its inception, more than 25 years now. Tom Carter is the president. He and Thelonious Monk Jr. brought me on board ... Conversations with Tom Carter brought this idea for UNESCO to declare an International Jazz Day. And it was Tom Carters idea that it be in April because its Jazz Appreciation Month. That made a lot of sense. ...

We were both aware of how jazz has played an important diplomatic role throughout its history.

Jazz has been used to bring people together. That's one of the great values of this music. Yes, it was born in America, out of slavery, basically. Thats where the roots come from, and ultimately from Africa. But it couldnt have developed in Africa, it had to develop here: Its got the American soil on it.

But ... what is an American? Americans are from everywhere. This may be the largest immigrant country in the world. So this music represents the world anyway. Born from the African-American experience, yes, but its really about the human experience. Its really about the ability of human beings to take the worst of circumstances and struggles and turn it into something creative and constructive.

Thats something thats built into the fiber of every human being. And I think thats why people can respond to it. They feel the freedom in it. And the attributes of jazz are also admirable. Its about dialogue. Its about sharing. And teamwork. Its in the moment, and its nonjudgmental, at its best.

When you play on stage, you cant be sitting there judging what the other musicians are playing and say, I wish he didnt play that. Or, I want him to play this right now. You cant be thinking that way! That goes out the window. Whatever anybody plays, your thought is, how can I make it all work?