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 was a jazz purist at the time, I had tunnel vision about jazz and classical music,
I think a lot of young people being brought up in this scene feel a sense of ruthlessness. There's nothing to plant them deeply down in the soil somehow so they can bend and sway from there.
Because I have certain things I feel very passionate about, and I don't want to just make albums with tunes anymore.
Another thing that I noticed is a lot of people in the hip hop scene have a great respect for jazz and have incorporated by sampling some elements that come from jazz.
The result is a music that allows us to all go outside the pigeonholes the music business forces us to stay in. We're breaking down expectations, walking the tightrope, while not scaring our fan bases away.
I mean, nobody has a statement on their record.
Also, I haven't heard an synthesizer yet that I can truly say has the resolution and is capable of the nuances of the acoustic piano, so I don't even try and compare those anymore.
But in jazz, the song may be written by somebody else, but how you treat it is entirely with your notes and your expression.
And you allow yourself to play off that plane. You're in this dark room of unknowns, you allow yourself to go there.
Aside from that, what was more in our heads when we made the new album is the concept of forging through and exploring new territory and encouraging other musicians to not be afraid to explore new territory.
At the same time, I'm still enjoying working with young people.
I wanted to work with artists who were strong enough personalities that they'd all have something of their own to bring. My foundation is jazz, which is all about interaction. Jazz gives you a lot of tools to play with.
I get bored easily, but later I learned that it is OK to do something that others have done.
A couple of years ago, I came up with the idea for a film that I thought could be interesting, and I took it to a couple of people - nobody professional or anything - but I thought it was kind of cool.