Watch Herbie Hancock’s $200,000 grand piano being delivered through an upper floor window for a gig

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If he was going to Rockit, someone had to Moveit

While many players are happy to take a digital stage piano out on the road with them - or possibly even a laptop running a piano VST plugin - it seems that there are times when Herbie Hancock still likes to gig with a real grand.

What happens, though, when you can’t get the instrument into the venue, and the space you’re playing in is on an upper floor?

Refusing to admit defeat when Hancock’s piano turned out to be just a foot too large to fit into its service lift, Jimmy’s Jazz & Blues Club in Portsmouth, New Hampshire decided that the solution was to remove a window, bring in a crane and hoist it through. Where are Laurel and Hardy when you need them?

Footage of the delivery has now emerged via WMUR-TV, who says that - unsurprisingly - this is the first time Hancock’s $200,000 piano has made its entrance (and, presumably, exit) this way.

Ben Rogerson
Ben Rogerson
Deputy Editor

I’m the Deputy Editor of MusicRadar, having worked on the site since its launch in 2007. I previously spent eight years working on our sister magazine, Computer Music. I’ve been playing the piano, gigging in bands and failing to finish tracks at home for more than 30 years, 24 of which I’ve also spent writing about music and the ever-changing technology used to make it.