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
First of all I should explain that synthesizers themselves, I don't consider them instruments, they are instrument makers, because you can program them to be whatever sound you want.
Things that happen to you are events. It's what you do with them that determine whether they're going to be problems or solutions.
But these days I never turn on radios, I always turn them off.
I'm very conscious of the idea of trying to each time present something that I haven't presented before. It's a challenge to me to find something new, to find something innovative, but it's also very exciting.
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.
I actually own Final Cut Pro, which is software for editing video, and Premiere from Adobe, I have that.
It gets boring when you look out at the audience and you see that 90 percent of the people out there are males.
That's when I began to understand what a chord is. So I learned theory to find a shorter method to take things off a record.
Lionel can play anything: totally out, blues, tear-jerking stuff, rock and African, ... Carlos didn't know him, but he trusted my judgment. When Lionel played, he blew everyone's minds -- the audience and Carlos' band. Their jaws were hanging.
Although I had stopped listening to R&B, it still would move my soul.
I think I heard the name Muddy Waters first, then John Lee Hooker.
They brought what they do to the table, and I brought what I do to the table,
Over the years I've made decisions about things, especially music, and have been scoffed at and ridiculed and opposed, but I knew I had to do these things.
I was excited about the possibility of going to New York.