HerbieHancock
A child piano prodigy
Born in Chicago in 1940, Herbie revealed himself as a child piano prodigy when he got a piano from his parents at the age of 7. His piano teacher played him the works of Chopin, ”a defining moment” he says. He performed a Mozart piano concerto with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra at age 11.
He began playing jazz in high school, initially influenced by Oscar Peterson and Bill Evans. He also developed a passion for electronics and science, and double-majored in music and electrical engineering at Grinnell College. The interest in science and technology would also follow his musical path later on.
Herbie Hancock on how he started playing the piano.
Bill Evans in 1964 (Source: Public domain)
"Herbie was the step after Bud Powell and Thelonious Monk, and I haven't heard anybody yet who has come after him.”
– Miles Davis in The Autobiography
Moving to New York
Hancock was discovered by trumpeter Donald Byrd who became his mentor, in the beginning of the 1960s. In 1961 he joined Byrd’s group in New York, playing on his album "Free Form."
Donald Byrd (Source: Press photo from 1975)
Donald Byrd, "Free Form"
Byrd introduced him to Miles Davis and in 1963 Hancock would join Davis’ Second Great Quintet with Polar Music Prize Laureate Wayne Shorter (tenor saxophone), Tony Williams (drums), Ron Carter (bass). With the Miles Davis Quintet he toured the world in the 60s, and played on some of Davis legendary albums E.S.P and Nefertiti.
Early live photo of the "second great quintet" in July 1963. From left to right: Ron Carter, Miles Davis, Tony Williams.
Legendary Miles album E.S.P with the Second Great Quintet
After arriving in New York and and playing with Byrd, Hancock himself took the front seat and was signed to Blue Note as a solo artist. His first album "Takin’ off" was released in 1963 and included his first hit "Watermelon Man", that he would rework later on in the 1970s.
His own career blossomed on Blue Note in parallell with playing with Miles Davis. His classic albums include "Maiden Voyage", "Empyrean Isles" and "Speak like a child." According to himself, ”Maiden Voyage” is the best song he ever composed.
Movie scores
At the same time, Herbie Hancock also got into writing movie scores. The first score was 1966’s classic ”Blow up” by Michelangelo Antonio, and 20 years later he would win an Oscar for another movie score, ”Round Midnight", in which he also starred as an actor.
Movie poster of Blow-up (Source: Fair Use)
Head Hunters
The 1970s would mark Hancock’s moving even more towards jazzfusion, funk and experimentation with sounds and electronics. His albums would also hit the pop charts, and trailblazing "Head Hunters " from 1973 would become the first jazz album to go platinum. He experimented and pursued his curiosity within electronics and experienced a lot with synthesizers.
”Synthesizers produce sounds for music, a lot of jazz musicians were afraid of that, but I wasn’t”, he says.
Head Hunters
Rockit
In 1983, a new pull to the alternative side led Herbie to a series of collaborations with avantgarde artist Bill Laswell. The first, 'Future Shock', again struck platinum. The single "Rockit" included scratching and synthezisers in a way jazz musicians had not really done before, and was inspired by early hiphop DJs. It rocked the dance and R&B charts, winning a Grammy for Best R&B Instrumental. The video of the track won five MTV awards and the song did put scratching out in the more mainstream field.
"Future Shock" from 1983
Musician and producer Bill Laswell (Source: Wikimedia Commons)
Hancock and Laswell did collaborate once more in 2001 with hip hop and techno artists on the concept album Future 2 Future, once again reuniting the worlds of jazz and electronics.
Crossover Collaborations
'Possibilities', released in August 2005, teamed Herbie with many popular artists, such as Polar Music Prize Laureates Sting, Paul Simon and Angélique Kidjo, as well as Annie Lennox, John Mayer, Christina Aguilera, Carlos Santana, Joss Stone and Damien Rice. That year, he played a number of concert dates with a re-staffed Headhunters, and became the first-ever Artist-In-Residence at the Tennessee-based festival Bonnaroo.
Possibilities, 2005
River: The Joni Letters
In 2007, Hancock recorded and released 'River: The Joni Letters', a tribute to longtime friend, collaborator and Polar Music Prize Laureate Joni Mitchell featuring Wayne Shorter, guitarist Lionel Loueke, bassist Dave Holland and drummer Vinnie Colaiuta and co-produced by Larry Klein. He enlisted vocalists Norah Jones, Tina Turner, Corinne Bailey Rae, Luciana Souza, Leonard Cohen and Mitchell herself to perform songs she wrote or was inspired by. The album received glowing reviews and was a year-end Top 10 choice for many critics. It also garnered three Grammy Awards, including Album of the Year – Herbie is one of only a handful of jazz musicians ever to receive that honor.
Live with Joni Mitchell (about 9 min in)
"River: The Joni Letters", 2007
The Imagine Project
In 2010 Hancock released the critically-acclaimed CD, ‘Herbie Hancock’s The Imagine Project,’ winner of two 2011 Grammy Awards for Best Pop Collaboration and Best Improvised Jazz Solo. Utilizing the universal language of music to express its central themes of peace and global responsibility, the ‘Imagine’ project was recorded around the world and features a stellar group of musicians including Jeff Beck, Seal,Pink, Dave Matthews, The Chieftains, Lionel Loueke, Oumou Sangare, Konono #l, Anoushka Shankar, Chaka Khan, Marcus Miller, Derek Trucks, Susan Tedeschi, Tinariwen, and Ceu.
The Herbie Hancock Institute of jazz
Herbie Hancock also maintains a thriving career outside the performing stage and recording studio. He serves as Institute Chairman of the Herbie Hancock Institute of Jazz, the foremost international organization devoted to the development of jazz performance and education worldwide. The Institute is the nonprofit charged with planning, promoting and producing the annual International Jazz Day on April 30.
Herbie Hancock, Don Braden: "Footprints" | Herbie Hancock Institute of Jazz Performance at UCLA
“To contribute to UNESCO’s efforts to promote mutual understanding among cultures, with a particular emphasis on fostering the emergence of new and creative ideas amongst youth, to find solutions to global problems, as well as ensuring equal access to the diversity of artistic expressions.”
– UNESCO Director-General Irina Bokova on the mission of Herbie Hancock as a UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador
UNESCO & International Jazz Day
In July of 2011 Hancock was designated a UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador by UNESCO Director-General Irina Bokova, recognizing Herbie Hancock’s “dedication to the promotion of peace through dialogue, culture and the arts."
In November 2011, UNESCO officially designated April 30 as International Jazz Day in order to highlight jazz and its diplomatic role of uniting people in all corners of the globe. International Jazz Day is chaired by Herbie Hancock, who serves as a UNESCO Ambassador for Intercultural Dialogue and Chairman of the Herbie Hancock Institute of Jazz.
UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador Herbie Hancock, 2023 on the International Jazz Day Celebration. International Jazz Day is intended to raise awareness of the virtues of jazz as an educational tool, and a force for empathy, dialogue and enhanced cooperation among people contributing to more inclusive societies.
Awards & titles
Hancock is also a founder of The International Committee of Artists for Peace, and was awarded the much esteemed French “Commandeur des Arts et des Lettres” in 2010. In December of 2013, Hancock was the recipient of a prestigious Kennedy Center Honor, and in 2014 he was was named the 2014 Norton Professor Of Poetry at Harvard University, completing his lectures series, “The Ethics Of Jazz,” as part of the Charles Eliot Norton Lecture Series for a period of six weeks.
Billy Joel, Carlos Santana, and Herbie Hancock, John Kerry, Shirley MacLain, Martina Arroyo & Teresa Heinz Kerry at the U.S. Department of State in Washington, D.C. December 7, 2013. (Source: State Department photo/ Public Domain)
This article was written in 2025. Header photo of Herbie Hancock by Douglas Kirkland. Sources: Allmusic.com, Official Biography, Wikipedia, Youtube, Wikimedia Commons.
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