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
You don't know what that's going to sound like; you just do it because the urge is there.
He just blew me away and what it taught me was that Miles didn't hear it as a mistake.
Jazz is a music that translates the moment into a sense of inspiration for not only the musicians but for the listeners.
I remember my very first recording. It was on a wire recorder, as the tape recording was only just out but too expensive.
It's very different from classical music. In classical music, you are playing something that is written by someone else.
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.
By contrast, wisdom captivates people's hearts and has the power to open a new age.
Sometimes you can practice something but what you wind up playing when you're out doing a gig is not what you practiced. What you learn is not necessarily what you practice.
Here was this young beautiful black woman that just kind of opened Miles' eyes up.
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.
Then I would watch him improvise, and I would be fascinated by what he was doing.
I knew of jazz, but I didn't like it. I always thought only older people liked jazz - you know, you had to be 19 or 20.
I hope to still be making records, but still traveling and touring, I don't know to the extent that I am now, because it's pretty wearing on your physical energy.
I'm involved in the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz, and I work with students with that, and I also help try to raise funds for that.