Christopher Summer Festival | Henri Herbert: Blues piano grooves

HENRI HERBERT (piano, USA/United Kingdom)

„Henri’s singing is as sexy as Jon Spencer and Elvis at his most moody, but it’s the demonic piano that grabs your attention“ (Ged Babey).

It’s true, Henri Herbert is a phenomenon of the piano. He’s one of the most celebrated boogie and blues performers in the world. Having started to play from the age of just four, by the age of twelve he had already released his first CD. It wasn’t long before he was collaborating with the legendary Rolling Stones keyboardist Chuck Leavell, performing for the royal family of Monaco, and appearing on the David Letterman Show where he made the audience gasp in wonderment at his amazingly masterful, energy-packed performance.

Seeking to popularise the boogie, the pianist does not limit his concerts to imposing music halls. He arranged a series of concerts at public transport stations playing on public pianos, attracting more than a 100 million views on YouTube.

While in Vilnius, Herbert will invite you to get in touch with the roots of American music. The dizzying boogie will alternate with the gritty blues, down-hearted bar songs being switched up with sensual jazz ballads.

This programme is the pianist’s love-letter to the coryphaei who have inspired him along the way. “Just look at guys like Hoagy Carmichael, John Lee Hooker, Ray… They all created musical universes”, says the pianist in admiration, inviting you all to enter his own blues universe.

Programme features Henri Herbert, Ray Charles, Oscar Peterson after John Lee Hooker