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Herbie Hancock

Born in Chicago, IL

Herbie Hancock's Genre:

Jazz Instrument, Hard Bop, Modal Music, Post-Bop, Piano Jazz, Jazz, Fusion, Jazz-Funk, Funk, Electro

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.

Having left the Davis band in 1968, Hancock recorded an elegant funk album, Fat Albert Rotunda, and in 1969 formed a sextet that evolved into one of the most exciting, forward-looking jazz-rock groups of the era. Now deeply immersed in electronics, Hancock added the synthesizer of Patrick Gleeson to his Echoplexed, fuzz-wah-pedaled electric piano and clavinet, and the recordings became spacier and more complex rhythmically and structurally, creating its own corner of the avant-garde. By 1970, all of the musicians used both English and African names (Herbie's was Mwandishi). Alas, Hancock had to break up the band in 1973 when it ran out of money, and having studied Buddhism, he concluded that his ultimate goal should be to make his audiences happy.

The next step, then, was a terrific funk group whose first album, Head Hunters, with its Sly Stone-influenced hit single, "Chameleon," became the biggest-selling jazz LP up to that time. Now handling all of the synthesizers himself, Hancock's heavily rhythmic comping often became part of the rhythm section, leavened by interludes of the old urbane harmonies. Hancock recorded several electric albums of mostly superior quality in the '70s, followed by a wrong turn into disco around the decade's end. In the meantime, Hancock refused to abandon acoustic jazz. After a one-shot reunion of the 1965 Miles Davis Quintet (Hancock, Ron Carter, Tony Williams, Wayne Shorter, with Freddie Hubbard sitting in for Miles) at New York's 1976 Newport Jazz Festival, they went on tour the following year as V.S.O.P. The near-universal acclaim of the reunions proved that Hancock was still a whale of a pianist; that Miles' loose mid-'60s post-bop direction was far from spent; and that the time for a neo-traditional revival was near, finally bearing fruit in the '80s with Wynton Marsalis and his ilk. V.S.O.P. continued to hold sporadic reunions through 1992, though the death of the indispensable Williams in 1997 cast much doubt as to whether these gatherings would continue.

Hancock continued his chameleonic ways in the '80s: scoring an MTV hit in 1983 with the scratch-driven, proto-industrial single "Rockit" (accompanied by a striking video); launching an exciting partnership with Gambian kora virtuoso Foday Musa Suso that culminated in the swinging 1986 live album Jazz Africa; doing film scores; and playing festivals and tours with the Marsalis brothers, George Benson, Michael Brecker, and many others. After his 1988 techno-pop album, Perfect Machine, Hancock left Columbia (his label since 1973), signed a contract with Qwest that came to virtually nothing (save for A Tribute to Miles in 1992), and finally made a deal with Polygram in 1994 to record jazz for Verve and release pop albums on Mercury. Well into a youthful middle age, Hancock's curiosity, versatility, and capacity for growth showed no signs of fading, and in 1998 he issued Gershwin's World. His curiosity with the fusion of electronic music and jazz continued with 2001's Future 2 Future, but he also continued to explore the future of straight-ahead contemporary jazz with 2005's Possibilities. An intriguing album of jazz treatments of Joni Mitchell compositions called River: The Joni Letters was released in 2007. In 2010 Hancock released his The Imagine Project album, which was recorded in seven countries and featured a host of collaborators, including Dave Matthews, Anoushka Shankar, Jeff Beck, the Chieftains, John Legend, India.Arie, Seal, P!nk, Juanes, Derek Trucks, Susan Tedeschi, Chaka Khan, K'NAAN, Wayne Shorter, James Morrison, and Lisa Hannigan. He was also named Creative Chair for the New Los Angeles Philharmonic. ~ Richard S. Ginell

AOL Radio Stations Herbie Hancock is Featured on (17)

Classic Jazz [Non-Voc]

Singers need not at apply on Slacker's Classic Jazz Non-Vocal. This is where the masters of jazz instrumentation live. Tune in and break it down with the greats. You'll hear Louis Armstrong, Lester Young, Charlie Parker, Thelonious Monk, Miles Davis and more!

Classic Jazz

Classic Jazz aims to touch on the whole story of Jazz. From the art of the early masters like Louis Armstrong to the trailblazers of today, the entire arc of this uniquely American music unfolds daily. Examples of early Swing, Big Band, Bebop, Hard-bop, Cool, Modal, Fusion, Latin Jazz, Bossa Nova, and Avante-garde merge into a a rich medley of timeless music.

New York Sounds

Slacker Radio and Windows 8 collaborated on "New York Sounds" for the global launch from NYC and in celebration, this radio station is available with limited commercial interruption. On New York Sounds, we sought to combine NYC’s musical legacy and DNA with songs that convey the excitement and urgency of being in the city. Equal parts metropolitan and gritty, this station is the contemporary soundtrack to The City of Dreams. Check out the new Slacker Radio app on Windows 8 today.

Ida Maria Showcase

This is the Ida Maria Artist Showcase station on Slacker Radio. Tune in to hear music hand-picked by Ida and her guitarist Stefan Törnby as well as commentary about the songs that influenced their music and their lives.

Modern Jazz

Modern Jazz on Slacker Radio mixes and blends the best of today’s progressive improvising artists with Classic Fusion, Contemporary Brazilian, Acid Jazz, Funk, Jazz Techno, Electronic Jazz, Jam-Band Jazz, World Jazz, Nu-Jazz and indefinable music of the Modern Masters.

Old School Rap

Yo, yo, it's Old School Rap radio taking you on a ride to when hip-hop was in its truest form. Rhymin', beatboxing and the dopest beats ever made. From Run-DMC to Snoop Doggy Dogg, you'll only hear the illest joints on this station.

Jazz

Jazz on Slacker Radio draws from a rich palette of melodic and improvisational sounds, encompassing all the colors of jazz. From classic to current, from Adderley to Zawinul, you’ll experience listenable but progressive mix.

Patrick Stump Showcase

This is the Patrick Stump Artist Showcase station on Slacker Radio. Tune-in to hear music hand-picked by Patrick as well as commentary about the songs that influenced his music and his life.

The Silent Comedy Showcase

This is The Silent Comedy Artist Showcase station on Slacker. Tune in to hear a station built entirely by the band including music hand-picked by Joshua, Jeremiah, Justin and Chad as well as commentary by each about the songs that influenced their music and life.

Acid Jazz

Just what is Acid Jazz? It’s soulful jazz with a funky beat and much more! Acid Jazz on Slacker Radio reflects a mix of pioneering soul/jazz artists from the 60’s and 70’s cross pollinated with reggae and electronica. To top it off, we threw in some R&B classics from the 60’s and 70’s.

Jazz Holiday

Jazz Holiday on Slacker Radio spotlights Jingle Bell Jazz and seasonal sounds from today’s stars and yesterday’s luminaries. Enjoy the holiday cheer from Diana Krall, Tony Bennett, Jimmy Smith, Chet Baker, Dianne Reeves, Wynton Marsalis, Vince Guaraldi, Lou Rawls and many more!

Disco

Wildly popular in clubs and on radio from the early '70s through the early '80s, Disco on Slacker Radio revisits the divas, supergroups, one-hit wonders, producers and DJ's that made you want to dance.

Funk

The Aqua Boogie can give you More Bounce to the Ounce with the Magic Voice Box and make you Weak at The Knees! Slacker’s Funk Radio delivers top funk artists Like Parliament, Zapp and Roger, The Bar-Kays and more. Get ready for the Return of the Muthaship baby bubba!

Smooth Jazz

Relax and refresh with Smooth Jazz on Slacker Radio. Ride the wave of sophisticated grooves and sultry sax stylings from today's top artists as well as Smooth Jazz pioneers.

'80s Hits

80's Hits takes the biggest hits from the decade of big hair and music videos and puts it together on one station. From the new wave of Duran Duran, to the arena rock of Def Leppard, from the end of disco to the beginning of hip hop (remember Tone Loc?), it's all on 80's Hits.

The Current

The Current brings you the best authentic new music alongside the music that inspired it, from unique to universal, indie to influential, new to nostalgic. Broadcasting from the musical hotbed that is Minnesota, listen to The Current and you’ll see why we say, “Great Music Lives Here.” Find playlist, interviews and more at thecurrent.org.

Herbie Hancock

This station plays the best music from and music from related artists like Miles Davis, Wes Montgomery, John Coltrane, Thelonious Monk, Chick Corea, George Benson, Pat Metheny, Grover Washington, Jr., Stanley Clarke, Charlie Parker and more.

All Stations

Herbie Hancock's Selected Discography (50)

Artists Related to Herbie Hancock (50)

	Miles Davis	Throughout a professional career lasting 50 years, Miles Davis played the trumpet in a lyrical, introspective, and melodic style, often employing a stemless Harmon mute to make his sound more personal and intimate.
	Wes Montgomery	Wes Montgomery was one of the great jazz guitarists, a natural extension of Charlie Christian, whose appealing use of octaves became influential and his trademark.
	John Coltrane	Despite a relatively brief career (he first came to notice as a sideman at age 29 in 1955, formally launched a solo career at 33 in 1960, and was dead at 40 in 1967), saxophonist John Coltrane was among the most important, and most controversial, figures in jazz.
	Thelonious Monk	The most important jazz musicians are the ones who are successful in creating their own original world of music with its own rules, logic, and surprises.
	Chick Corea	Chick Corea has been one of the most significant jazzmen since the '60s. Not content at any time to rest on his laurels, he has been involved in quite a few important musical projects, and his musical curiosity has never dimmed.
	George Benson	George Benson is simply one of the greatest guitarists in jazz history, but he is also an amazingly versatile musician, and that frustrates to no end critics who would paint him into a narrow bop box.
	Pat Metheny	One of the most original guitarists from the '80s onward (he is instantly recognizable), Pat Metheny is a chance-taking player who has gained great popularity but also taken some wild left turns.
	Grover Washington, Jr.	One of the most popular saxophonists of all time, Grover Washington, Jr. was long the pacesetter in his field.
	Stanley Clarke	A brilliant player on both acoustic and electric basses, Stanley Clarke has spent much of his career outside of jazz, although he has the ability to play jazz with the very best.
	Charlie Parker	One of a handful of musicians who can be said to have permanently changed jazz, Charlie Parker was arguably the greatest saxophonist of all time.
	Stan Getz	One of the all-time great tenor saxophonists, Stan Getz was known as "The Sound" because he had one of the most beautiful tones ever heard.
	Freddie Hubbard	One of the great jazz trumpeters of all time, Freddie Hubbard formed his sound out of the Clifford Brown/Lee Morgan tradition, and by the early '70s was immediately distinctive and the pacesetter in jazz.
	Lee Ritenour	Known to fans as "Captain Fingers" for his uncommon dexterity on the guitar, Lee Ritenour is a noted jazz artist and session musician who has been one of the leaders in his field since the early '70s.
	Dave Brubeck	In the 1950s and '60s, few American jazz artists were as influential, and fewer still were as popular, as Dave Brubeck.
	Ramsey Lewis	Pianist and composer Ramsey Lewis has been a major figure in contemporary jazz since the late 1950s, playing music with a warm, open personality that's allowed him to cross over to the pop and R&B charts.
	Dizzy Gillespie	Dizzy Gillespie's contributions to jazz were huge. One of the greatest jazz trumpeters of all time (some would say the best), Gillespie was such a complex player that his contemporaries ended up copying Miles Davis and Fats Navarro instead, and it was not until Jon Faddis' emergence in the 1970s that Dizzy's style was successfully recreated.
	David Sanborn	David Sanborn has been the most influential saxophonist on pop, R&B, and crossover players of the past 20 years.
	Sonny Rollins	Sonny Rollins will go down in history as not only the single most enduring tenor saxophonist of the bebop and hard bop era, but also as one of the greatest contemporary jazz saxophonists of them all.
	Spyro Gyra	Founded in 1974 by saxophonist Jay Beckenstein, Spyro Gyra have consistently been one of the commercially successfully pop-jazz groups of the past 30 years.
	Charles Mingus	Irascible, demanding, bullying, and probably a genius, Charles Mingus cut himself a uniquely iconoclastic path through jazz in the middle of the 20th century, creating a legacy that became universally lauded only after he was no longer around to bug people.
	Weather Report	Weather Report started out as a jazz equivalent of what the rock world in 1970 was calling a "supergroup.
	The Crusaders	Back in 1954, Houston pianist Joe Sample teamed up with high school friends tenor saxophonist Wilton Felder and drummer Stix Hooper to form the Swingsters.
	Duke Ellington	Duke Ellington was the most important composer in the history of jazz as well as being a bandleader who held his large group together continuously for almost 50 years.
	Bill Evans	With the passage of time, Bill Evans has become an entire school unto himself for pianists and a singular mood unto himself for listeners.
	Yellowjackets	Although sometimes grouped with Spyro Gyra, Yellowjackets are actually one of the most creative regular groups in the "rhythm & jazz" genre.
	Wynton Marsalis	The most famous jazz musician since 1980, Wynton Marsalis had a major impact on jazz almost from the start.
	Al Jarreau	The only vocalist in history to net Grammy Awards in three different categories (jazz, pop, and R&B, respectively), Al Jarreau was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on March 12, 1940.
	George Duke	George Duke is an accomplished keyboardist, producer, arranger, bandleader, and composer. He has been successful in both popular music and jazz, and has straddled both sides of that aisle for most of his career.
	Joe Sample	One of the many jazzmen who started out playing hard bop but went electric during the fusion era, Joe Sample was, in the late '50s, a founding member of the Jazz Crusaders along with trombonist Wayne Henderson, tenor saxman Wilton Felder, and drummer Stix Hooper.
	Jeff Lorber	With a smooth sound bringing together elements of funk, R&B, rock, and electric jazz, keyboardist Jeff Lorber helped pioneer a genre of fusion later formatted under such names as NAC and contemporary jazz.
	Fourplay	This all-star group -- comprised of keyboardist Bob James, guitarist Lee Ritenour, bassist Nathan East, and drummer Harvey Mason -- was formed in 1991 after the quartet came together on part of James' Grand Piano Canyon album.
	Earl Klugh	An acoustic guitarist with a very pretty tone, Earl Klugh does not consider himself a jazz player and thinks of Chet Atkins as being his most important influence.
	Bob James	Bob James' recordings have practically defined pop/jazz and crossover during the past few decades. Very influenced by pop and movie music, James has often featured R&B-ish soloists (most notably Grover Washington, Jr.
	David Benoit	One of the more popular performers in the idiom somewhat inaccurately called "contemporary jazz," David Benoit has mostly performed light melodic background music, what critic Alex Henderson has dubbed "new age with a beat.
	Horace Silver	From the perspective of the 21st century, it is clear that few jazz musicians have had a greater impact on the contemporary mainstream than Horace Silver.
	Wayne Shorter	Though some will argue about whether Wayne Shorter's primary impact on jazz has been as a composer or as a saxophonist, hardly anyone will dispute his overall importance as one of jazz's leading figures over a long span of time.
	Donald Byrd	Donald Byrd was considered one of the finest hard bop trumpeters of the post-Clifford Brown era. He recorded prolifically as both a leader and sideman from the mid-'50s into the mid-'60s, most often for Blue Note, where he established a reputation as a solid stylist with a clean tone, clear articulation, and a knack for melodicism.
	The Rippingtons	One of the most popular groups in what is loosely termed "contemporary jazz," the Rippingtons were formed (and have been led ever since) by guitarist/keyboardist Russ Freeman (no relation to the veteran West Coast bop pianist of the same name).
	Cannonball Adderley	One of the great alto saxophonists, Cannonball Adderley had an exuberant and happy sound that communicated immediately to listeners.
	Boney James	A solid saxophonist whose style falls on the R&B-ish and pop side of jazz, Boney James (who is heavily influenced by Grover Washington Jr.
	Roy Ayers	Once one of the most visible and winning jazz vibraphonists of the 1960s, then an R&B bandleader in the 1970s and '80s, Roy Ayers' reputation s now that of one of the prophets of acid jazz, a man decades ahead of his time.
	Pieces of a Dream	Comprised of bassist Cedric Napoleon, drummer Curtis Harmon, and keyboardist James Lloyd, Pieces of a Dream were founded in 1975 in Philadelphia when the principal members were all teenagers.
	Chuck Mangione	Throughout the 1970s, Chuck Mangione was a celebrity. His purposely lightweight music was melodic pop that was upbeat, optimistic, and sometimes uplifting.
	Hiroshima	Hiroshima, a group whose music falls between R&B, pop, world music, and jazz, has long had its own niche.
	Oscar Peterson	Oscar Peterson was one of the greatest piano players of all time. A pianist with phenomenal technique on the level of his idol, Art Tatum, Peterson's speed, dexterity, and ability to swing at any tempo were amazing.
	John Scofield	One of the "big three" of current jazz guitarists (along with Pat Metheny and Bill Frisell), John Scofield's influence grew in the '90s and continued into the 21st century.
	Dave Koz	A contender for the instrumental pop saxophone throne, Dave Koz came out of nowhere after his self-titled 1990 release made it onto the Billboard contemporary jazz charts and stayed there several weeks.
	Incognito	An acid jazz project with surprisingly deep roots in the 1970s jazz/funk/fusion world, Incognito were originally formed by Jean-Paul Maunick (aka Bluey) and Paul "Tubbs" Williams.
	Wayman Tisdale	Most athletes who moved into the recording business during the '90s found rap to be their forte, but Wayman Tisdale shifted the field to contemporary jazz with his 1995 debut album, Power Forward, recorded for the Motown subsidiary MoJazz.
	Chris Botti	Though best known as a contemporary jazz performer, trumpeter Chris Botti made his initial splash on the pop music scene.