Herbie Hancock, photographed in 2009
Herbie Hancock, photographed in 2009
“I started at seven years old, and when I was eleven, I performed at a young people’s concert with the Chicago Symphony. I played the first movement of a Mozart concerto. In fact, I studied classical piano all the way through college, until I was twenty.”1
Herbie Hancock, a child prodigy at the piano, seemed headed for a career as a classical concert pianist. But his love for jazz pulled him in a different direction. As a result, Hancock embarked on a long, successful career as a jazz pianist and composer that has spanned five decades. He has moved from one musical style to another, including hard bop, post-bop, modal music, fusion, funk, and electronic jazz-funk. In the process, he has brought enjoyment to millions of fans around the world.
Herbert Jeffrey Hancock was born on April 12, 1940, in Chicago, Illinois. His first piano teacher was a Mrs. Whalen, who gave lessons at the Ebeneezer Baptist Church in Chicago. According to Hancock, “She taught me how to read, but I had no sound, no feeling for music. Then when I was ten, I went to a Mrs. Jordan.… She realized that everything I played sounded the same. She showed me how to play nuances on the keyboard and talked in more philosophical terms, trying to get me to understand what music was all about. That’s when I started getting a touch.”2
Herbie taught himself harmony and ear training by listening to records of the great pianists Oscar Peterson and George Shearing. He listened carefully to their solos, transcribed them, and learned how to play them on the piano. He also studied the harmonies of the vocal group the Hi-Lo’s, whom he admired. At Grinnell College in Iowa, Herbie took a double major in electrical engineering and music. He breezed through the music theory courses because he had already learned so much on his own.
After leaving Grinnell in 1960, Hancock worked in the post office in Chicago, while at the same time playing with saxophonist Coleman Hawkins. In December of that year, he became a member of trumpet player Donald Byrd’s band. Hancock moved to New York, where he and Byrd were roommates and became friends.
In 1963, Hancock recorded his debut album, Takin’ Off, which featured “Watermelon Man,” a big hit on jazz and rhythm-and-blues radio. Apparently, the album brought Hancock to the attention of Miles Davis. In May 1963, Hancock heard rumors that Davis might be interested in him. According to Hancock, Donald Byrd said, “Look, if Miles calls you and asks if you’re working with anybody, tell him no, and take the gig. More power to you. I don’t want to stand in the way of your moving forward.”3 Hancock did in fact get the call, and he left Donald Byrd’s band to play with Davis.
During his five years with Davis, Hancock and the group recorded successful albums such as E.S.P., Nefertiti, and Sorcerer. In addition to Hancock, the group featured Davis on trumpet, Wayne Shorter on tenor saxophone, Ron Carter on bass, and Tony Williams on drums. While playing with this group, Hancock began playing the Fender Rhodes electric piano. He also made other records during this time, including his jazz hit “Maiden Voyage.”
On August 31, 1968, Hancock got married. He and his wife, Gudrun Meixner, went to Brazil for their honeymoon. They were due back in two weeks, in time for Hancock’s next gig with Miles. Unfortunately, Hancock got food poisoning while in Brazil. The doctors would not let him leave on time because he was on medication. So when he eventually got back to New York, he found that Davis had replaced him with pianist Chick Corea. Hancock was not pleased with this development, even though he had been planning to eventually leave Davis to pursue other projects. However, even after leaving Davis’s band, Hancock appeared on that group’s albums In a Silent Way and Bitches Brew, recordings that marked the birth of jazz-rock fusion.
Hancock was increasingly drawn to funk, music he associated with artists such as James Brown, Sly Stone, and certain songs of Stevie Wonder. Hancock formed a group called the Headhunters, which used synthesizers. In 1973, Hancock’s album Head Hunters became the first jazz album to go platinum—that is, to sell one million copies. It featured the hit single “Chameleon,” influenced by Sly Stone.
By the mid-1970s, Hancock had achieved incredible success. He was playing for stadium-sized crowds all over the world, and he had at least four albums in the pop charts at once. Hancock’s music from the 1970s would influence hip-hop and dance music artists that followed almost twenty years later. While immersed in the world of electronic jazz funk, Hancock continued to perform acoustic jazz with musicians such as trumpeter Freddie Hubbard and pianists Chick Corea and Oscar Peterson.
Herbie Hancock at the piano at a jazz festival in London in 1979. His music from the 1970s would influence hip-hop and dance music decades later.
Since the 1970s, Hancock has continued to explore various styles of music, with an accent on funky rhythms. He has composed film scores and music for TV. In 1980, he introduced the trumpeter Wynton Marsalis to the world. He produced Marsalis’s debut album and toured with him. In 1986 Hancock won an Oscar for scoring the film ’Round Midnight, in which he also appeared as an actor. ’Round Midnight tells the story of fictional African-American jazzman Dale Turner and his struggle with alcohol abuse in Paris during the 1950s. In 1998, Hancock recorded Gershwin’s World. Appearing with him were Stevie Wonder, Joni Mitchell, Kathleen Battle, Wayne Shorter, and Chick Corea, among others. Gershwin’s World won three Grammys in 1999.
One common aspect of Hancock’s recording projects is that, especially in recent years, each new album is stylistically different from the previous one. Hancock believes in never being afraid to try new things, even if this means not pleasing the critics. According to Hancock:
In 2005, Hancock recorded the album Possibilities, a collaboration with many artists including Sting, Annie Lennox, John Mayer, Christina Aguilera, Paul Simon, Carlos Santana, Joss Stone, and Damien Rice. In 2007 he recorded River: The Joni Letters, which featured jazz treatments of the music of Joni Mitchell. In addition to Mitchell, it includes artists such as Norah Jones and Tina Turner. Hancock says that on this album, for the first time in his career, he focused on the meaning of the lyrics. Hancock has won twelve Grammy awards for his jazz performances. On January 18, 2009, he had the honor of performing at the opening celebration for the presidential inauguration of Barack Obama at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C.
Herbie Hancock with the Grammy awards he won in 2008. He has won twelve Grammys over the years for his jazz recordings.
Herbie Hancock is open to all types of music and does not believe in putting albums in categories. His goal is to create music that many people will want to listen to. He wants to make his listeners happy. According to Hancock: