With a few exceptions, Hancock has navigated the territory well. Saturday night at the Borgata, the 68-year-old keyboardist gave the graying audience a glib, classy and glossy set heavy on the pop without forgetting his original raison d'etre. In a way, this made sense; the Borgata crowd probably wanted to hear more stuff from River and less from Head Hunters and Maiden Voyage.

Hancock's most astute move was to employ some real ballers - Vinnie Colaiuta on drums, Dave Holland on bass, Chris Potter on tenor, Lionel Loueke on guitar. Though their ability to really stretch out was often limited, each man found a way to make his own impact.

Voices took center stage. The obvious ones were those of Amy Keys and Sonya Kitchell; on "River," the former was soulful and majestic, the latter earnest but lacking. Keys was much more effective on her own, bringing soul and passion to Donny Hathaway's "A Song For You."

It was wordless voices, though, that made the most impact. During an extended solo, Loueke dazzled with polyrhythms on guitar and tight, electronically augmented harmonies as he sang phrases that meant something only to him.

The jazzman in Hancock was at his finest on "Cantaloupe Island" - a favorite of hip-hoppers - and "Chameleon," a fusion hit that has now become a standard. Hancock wielded a portable synth on the latter, his encore, cutting a rakish, rockish figure as he worked the tune for the 8,000th time. Earlier, Hancock showed his chops - and his street cred - by embarking on Benin-born Loueke's "Seven Teens," an exercise in complicated, odd meter that stretched every man. Colaiuta's timekeeping was impeccable on this puzzler, and Hancock provided solos that were both airy and scintillating. Time and time again, the leader went back to the blues, proving that he had never really left them.