Herbie Hancock Biography

Herbie Hancock will always be one of the most revered and controversial figures in jazz -- just as his employer/mentor Miles Davis was when he was alive. Unlike Miles who pressed ahead relentlessly and never looked back until near the very end Hancock has cut a zigzagging forward path shuttling between almost every development in electronic and acoustic jazz and R&B over the last third of the 20th century and into the 21st. Though grounded in Bill Evans and able to absorb blues funk gospel and even modern classical influences Hancock's piano and keyboard voices are entirely his own with their own urbane harmonic and complex earthy rhythmic signatures -- and young pianists cop his licks constantly. Having studied engineering and professing to love gadgets and buttons Hancock was perfectly suited for the electronic age; he was one of the earliest champions of the Rhodes electric piano and Hohner clavinet and would field an ever-growing collection of synthesizers and computers on his electric dates. Yet his love for the grand piano never waned and despite his peripatetic activities all around the musical map his piano style continued to evolve into tougher ever more complex forms. He is as much at home trading riffs with a smoking funk band as he is communing with a world-class post-bop rhythm section -- and that drives purists on both sides of the fence up the wall.
Having taken up the piano at age seven Hancock quickly became known as a prodigy soloing in the first movement of a Mozart piano concerto with the Chicago Symphony at the age of 11. After studies at Grinnell College Hancock was invited by Donald Byrd in 1961 to join his group in New York City and before long Blue Note offered him a solo contract. His debut album Takin' Off took off indeed after Mongo Santamaria covered one of the album's songs Watermelon Man. In May 1963 Miles Davis asked him to join his band in time for the Seven Steps to Heaven sessions and he remained there for five years greatly influencing Miles' evolving direction loosening up his own style and upon Miles' suggestion converting to the Rhodes electric piano. In that time span Hancock's solo career also blossomed on Blue Note pouring forth increasingly sophisticated compositions like Maiden Voyage Cantaloupe Island Goodbye to Childhood and the exquisite Speak Like a Child. He also played on many East Coast recording sessions for producer Creed Taylor and provided a groundbreaking score to Michelangelo Antonioni's film Blow Up which gradually led to further movie assignments.

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