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
Other highlights? When I started practicing Buddhism 21 years ago. Marrying the woman I married 26 years ago; my wife is quite a woman. The birth of my daughter. Joining Miles Davis' band.
As the 1960s began, jazz music was still at an apex, with hard bop groups led by the likes of Miles Davis and John Coltrane remaining a force on the musical landscape.
I was on tour with Miles Davis, and we had a gig to play at a theater in Los Angeles in 1965. And the opening act was the Aretha Franklin Jazz Trio. She was this young artist and she played sort of funky jazz piano with an upright bassist and a drummer. Then she sang, and she blew the roof off the place. The rest is history. I'd rate her up there with Zeus.
I would be all over the piano, but Miles would play a few notes that would just wipe out all that fancy stuff I was playing.
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.
Still, when I finally left Miles in '68 and got my own band, it was a logical step; because anybody that left Miles always had their own band.
After a long day of playing, John took me aside and said, 'Was that OK? Was it usable? What's going on?' ... All I said was, 'Welcome to a Miles Davis session.'
I said, 'If Miles is so open, it must be cool to be open to all this other stuff.'
He just blew me away and what it taught me was that Miles didn't hear it as a mistake.
Miles' sessions were not typical of anybody else's sessions. They were totally unique.
So much of what I create has been due to the influence of Miles Davis and Donald Byrd, and so many of those that have passed on. Their music, their legacy lives on with the rest of us because we are so highly influenced by their experience and what they have given us.
We were listening to a lot of different people, but we were listening to a lot of real innovators, and we were full of ideas.
I've started something called the Rhythm of Life Foundation to encourage the technological community to develop ideas and software that directly effect the advancement of humanity.
I started playing piano when I was 7. And I started with classical lessons. Then I really got exposed to jazz.