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
People put you on a pedestal when you become famous, in their eyes, or if they really respect your work, they might put you on a pedestal, but I didn't get that as a kid.
We realize that there doesn't seem to be a lot of people looking into new ways of reexamining the conventions that we've grown to accept in the music.
Well, I'm hoping that the narrow categories of music are forced to develop activities that reflect a broader variety of music, so that people get exposed to more variety that they certainly are now.
Most people think that classical music is a higher form than jazz only because it is from Europe, and we were taught in schools only about Western European history.
Now we see that we have to pay attention to the environment. We have to protect it. It's become a real issue and a lot of people are still looking at it from a 20th century standpoint.
I'm an American man, and I'm concerned about the present and the future as has as this country and its people are concerned.
We talked for a couple of hours before we played a note. We didn't talk about music, we talked about life - families, children, issues in the world, politics, so many things. The kind of camaraderie we developed helped make the music what it is. I wanted to find a common ground and connect as people first.
What's music supposed to be about anyway? Is it a means for a musician to masturbate, or is it for people to listen to?
We are all on the same trip in the band. We all realize that people in the music business, and the audience have an eye on us because collectively our history is extensive.
See, there were certain rules I'd always used, and people like Trane, they would break those rules.
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.
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.
I like to present something that the people haven't seen or haven't heard before. Otherwise they might as well just stay home and play the record.
People always want to protect what's really going on inside. They want to kind of make visible something that looks more pleasant than what may be happening inside of themselves.