Or, as Hancock announced from the stage, “we try to see what’s not possible, and that is what we try to reach for.” Instead, as the pianist has done throughout his career, the focus was overwhelmingly on the development of new sounds. Given the performance’s historical context, it would be easy to expect a sense of nostalgia to prevail over the proceedings. While the pianist has visited the self-proclaimed Live Music Capital of the World several times, he would not play at the Paramount until September 15, 2021, as part of his brief summer tour. In 1983, Miles Davis performed there, and in the nearly four decades since, the venue has tried to book one of the trumpeter’s former bandmates, Herbie Hancock. Even just limited to music, one finds, among others, John Phillip Sousa, Stevie Ray Vaughan, and Ray Charles. And in all honesty, the archival clips - including a lengthy German TV broadcast of Hancock and the Miles Davis Quintet in 1962 and footage of an afro-ed and sequined-dashiki-clad Hancock performing a jazz-funk number from the 1973 fusion album Headhunters - are more interesting than the present-day material, which has the bland smoothness of a promotional press kit.Established in 1915, Austin’s Paramount Theatre has hosted many iconic figures in American culture, including Harry Houdini, Katherine Hepburn, and the Marx Brothers. 'Now that we know… it does give a hell of a context, doesn't it?' Hancock shares his philosophy of making music - it's all about being open to possibilities, hence the album's title - and talks about his life and career, from the way his college courses in engineering laid the groundwork for his experiments with electronic instruments, to his five years playing with the legendary Miles Davis. The talk is heavy on platitudes, but there's a certain charm in seeing Hancock and Lennox try to figure out what Paula Cole had in mind when she wrote 'Hush, Hush, Hush,' then just pick up the phone and ask.

Fine and Biro dutifully observe jams and recording sessions, interview the participants (who invariably declare that it's a dream come true to be working with Hancock) and hang around with the musicians during their downtime as they talk about their idols, inspirations and mentors. The artists include Christina Aguilera Trey Anastasio of jam-band Phish Irish musicians Damien Rice and Lisa Hannigan Sting Annie Lennox personable East-West fusion artist John Mayer Carlos Santana Angelique Kidjo, who combines West African musical traditions with funk, R&B and jazz Paul Simon and U.K.

Doug Biro and Jon Fine's efficient if uninspired documentary chronicles the making of jazz pianist Herbie Hancock's 2005 album Possibilities, which featured his collaborations with a broad range of pop, rock, blues, funk, Latin and world-music figures, many of whose work appeals to a broader (and younger) audience than traditional-jazz listeners.

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