Herbie Hancock | Artist

Herbie Hancock is an American jazz pianist, keyboardist, bandleader, composer and actor born 1940 in Chicago, Illinois. Hancock was considered a child prodigy and classical music studies from an early age. He played the first movement of Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 26 at a young people's concert on February 5, 1952, with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra at the age of 11. His professional career started with Donald Byrd and shortly thereafter joined the Miles Davis Quintet at the age of 23. Working with Miles between 1963-68 Hancock helped to redefine the role of a jazz rhythm section and was one of the primary architects of the post-bop sound. He recorded his first solo album Takin' Off for Blue Note Records in 1962. The album track "Watermelon Man" became a hit single and caught the attention of Davis. During his stint with Davis, Hancock recorded some of his finest solo albums, including the classics Inventions & Dimensions, Empyrean Isles and Maiden Voyage. During this period, Hancock also composed the score to Michelangelo Antonioni's film Blowup (1966), the first of many soundtracks he recorded in his career. At Davis' insistence Hancock began playing electric keyboards including the Fender Rhodes piano, on albums like Bitches Brew, which proved to be important in his future musical directions. In 1973 Hancock formed The Headhunters as a vehicle to cross-over between jazz and pop audiences. The 1973 album Headhunters was a commercial success and its genre-bending style proved vastly influential on not only jazz, but funk, soul, and hip-hop. To-date Hancock has released 52 studio albums including solo and ensemble works, collaborations and soundtracks. Standout releases include Inventions & Dimensions, Empyrean Isles, Maiden Voyage, Mwandishi, Sextant, Headhunters, and the soundtrack Blow-up. Hancock is the 2014 Charles Eliot Norton Professor of Poetry at Harvard University. Previous holders include musicians Leonard Bernstein, Igor Stravinsky and John Cage. Hancock's academic theme is "The Ethics of Jazz.

Artist Website: herbiehancock.com

Featured Albums: Herbie Hancock

Related Artists: The Headhunters, Miles Davis