Herbie Hancock
Herbie Hancock
Herbert Jeffrey "Herbie" Hancockis an American pianist, keyboardist, bandleader, composer and actor. Starting his career with Donald Byrd, he shortly thereafter joined the Miles Davis Quintet where Hancock helped to redefine the role of a jazz rhythm section and was one of the primary architects of the post-bop sound. He was one of the first jazz musicians to embrace synthesizers and funk music. Hancock's music is often melodic and accessible; he has had many songs "cross over" and achieved success...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionPianist
Date of Birth12 April 1940
CityChicago, IL
CountryUnited States of America
I get bored easily, but later I learned that it is OK to do something that others have done.
By contrast, wisdom captivates people's hearts and has the power to open a new age.
If people are pleased that there is a popular acceptance of anything that came from me, I'm thrilled, you know, and flattered.
I didn't know much about this new electronic scene. I knew it was going on, but I hadn't really followed it or paid any particular attention to it.
When I sense a more conservative and limiting attitude coming from musicians, than my impression is that they're really moving away from the true spirit of jazz.
But once Miles would start to play on top of these things we were doing, all of a sudden, it was as though he would go to the core of it.
I don't see how we can have both the freedoms we had before and the safety net that we all need considering the way the world is today. And that's just because human beings can't trust each other. We've given in over and over to some of the darkest elements that exist in life itself.
When you talk about 'doing the work', that's the work I'm interested in. What can I contribute as a human being?
See, there were certain rules I'd always used, and people like Trane, they would break those rules.
My hope is that the music will serve as a metaphor for the actions taken by the inhabitants of this wonderful planet as a call for world harmony on all levels.
I think people have learned that Herbie Hancock can be defined as someone that you won't be able to figure out what he's going to do next. The sky is the limit as far as I'm concerned.
To my wife, I'm not Herbie Hancock the musician. I'm her husband. When I'm talking to a neighbor, I'm a neighbor. When I vote, I'm a citizen.
Take whatever happens and try to make it work.
One of the most important functions of jazz has been to encourage a hope for freedom, for people living in situations of intolerance or struggle.