Herbie Hancock Overview

Herbie Hancock isn't easy to pin down. From bebop to free jazz, fusion to jazz-rock, instrumental pop to hip-hop, funk to world fusion, an entire spectrum of musical forms has felt the Hancock hand. With an agile sense for diverse styles,... [more]

Herbie Hancock isn't easy to pin down. From bebop to free jazz, fusion to jazz-rock, instrumental pop to hip-hop, funk to world fusion, an entire spectrum of musical forms has felt the Hancock hand. With an agile sense for diverse styles, he has continuously modulated his mood and his sonorous architecture to meet the demands, desires, and developments of the day. You might say that he's capable of keeping up with the times. That Hancock was a musical prodigy was almost immediately apparent. Hancock began playing the piano at age seven, performed his first recital when he was nine, and two years later joined the Chicago Symphony Orchestra to play Mozart's D Major Piano Concerto. And this impressively steep learning curve didn't flatten out; in high school he formed his own jazz band, playing semi-professionally at various venues. He then met Donald Byrd, who eventually invited him to move to New York and join his band. 1963 was a propitious moment in Hancock's career, as he was asked to join Miles Davis' quintet. He fit in immediately, fusing his own contrapuntal style with bassist Ron Carter and drummer Tony Williams. The band stayed together for five years, moving into a more electric, fusion-focused style that would inspire Hancock's own future development. After the quintet broke up, Hancock put together a sextet of his own. He began to define his own rhythmic, rock-inflected style; electric instruments replaced acoustic, and unprecedented experiments with distortions and modulations ensued. Hancock was heavily criticized for moving away from traditional jazz, and his album sales reflected it. In 1973, financial troubles forced him to scale down the band. The result was the Headhunters, who continued to evolve along the lines of fusion, funk, and even disco, and eventually found public appeal. In the 1980s, Hancock developed a sound that laid the foundations for today's hip-hop. Exploiting the full potential of the synthesizer, he sampled a huge range of sounds, cut his songs with quick sound-bytes, and incorporated scratching. His music displayed an entirely new texture: a hybrid of rock, fusion, and funk. The celebrated "Rockit," along with its award-winning video, became an immediate pop sensation. But Hancock has never lost his love for jazz. He's returned to it throughout his career, always with a nuanced synthesis of technical proficiency and passion. His tendency to move between styles has by no means depleted the potency of any one. On the contrary, his music is an argument in favor of cross-fertilization. [show less]