| Name | Herbie Hancock |
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| Landscape | no |
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| Background | non_vocal_instrumentalist |
|---|
| Birth name | Herbert Jeffrey Hancock |
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| Born | April 12, 1940Chicago, IllinoisUnited States |
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| Spouse | Gigi Hancock |
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| Instrument | piano, synthesizer, organ, clavinet, keytar, vocoder |
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| Genre | jazz, bebop, post bop, jazz fusion, hard bop, jazz-funk, funk, R&B;, electro funk, classical |
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| Occupation | musician, composer, bandleader |
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| Years active | 1961–present |
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| Label | Columbia, Blue Note, Verve/Polygram, Warner Bros. Records, Sony BMG Music Entertainment |
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| Associated acts | Miles Davis Quintet, Jaco Pastorius, Stevie Wonder |
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Herbert Jeffrey "Herbie" Hancock (born April 12, 1940) is an
American pianist,
bandleader and
composer. he joined Miles Davis's "second great quintet." This new band was essentially Miles Davis surrounded by fresh, new talent. Davis personally sought out Hancock, whom he saw as one of the most promising talents in jazz. The
rhythm section Davis organized was young but effective, comprising bassist
Ron Carter, 17-year-old drummer Tony Williams, and Hancock on piano. After
George Coleman and
Sam Rivers each took a turn at the saxophone spot, the quintet would gel with
Wayne Shorter on
tenor saxophone. This quintet is often regarded as one of the finest jazz ensembles, and the
rhythm section has been especially praised for its innovation and flexibility.
The second great quintet was where Hancock found his own voice as a pianist. Not only did he find new ways to use common chords, but he also popularized chords that had not previously been used in jazz. Hancock also developed a unique taste for "orchestral" accompaniment - using quartal harmony and Debussy-like harmonies, with stark contrasts then unheard of in jazz. With Williams and Carter he wove a labyrinth of rhythmic intricacy on, around and over existing melodic and chordal schemes. In the later half of the sixties their approach became so sophisticated and unorthodox that conventional chord changes would hardly be discernible; hence their improvisational concept would become known as "Time, No Changes".
While in the Davis' band, Hancock also found time to record dozens of sessions for the Blue Note label, both under his own name and as a sideman with other musicians such as Wayne Shorter, Tony Williams, Grant Green, Bobby Hutcherson, Sam Rivers, Donald Byrd, Kenny Dorham, Hank Mobley, Lee Morgan and Freddie Hubbard.
His albums Empyrean Isles (1964) and Maiden Voyage (1965) were to be two of the most famous and influential jazz LPs of the sixties, winning praise for both their innovation and accessibility (the latter demonstrated by the subsequent enormous popularity of the Maiden Voyage title track as a jazz standard, and by the jazz rap group US3 having a hit single with "Cantaloop" (derived from "Cantaloupe Island" on Empyrean Isles) some twenty five years later). Empyrean Isles featured the Davis rhythm section of Hancock, Carter and Williams with the addition of Freddie Hubbard on cornet, while Maiden Voyage also added former Davis saxophonist George Coleman (with Hubbard remaining on trumpet). Both albums are regarded as among the principal foundations of the post-bop style.
Hancock also recorded several less-well-known but still critically acclaimed albums with larger ensembles — My Point of View (1963), Speak Like a Child (1968) and The Prisoner (1969) featured flugelhorn, alto flute and bass trombone. 1963's Inventions and Dimensions was an album of almost entirely improvised music, teaming Hancock with bassist Paul Chambers and two Latin percussionists, Willie Bobo and Osvaldo Martinez.
During this period, Hancock also composed the score to Michelangelo Antonioni's film Blowup, the first of many soundtracks he recorded in his career.
Davis had begun incorporating elements of rock and popular music into his recordings by the end of Hancock's tenure with the band. Despite some initial reluctance, Hancock began doubling on electric keyboards including the Fender Rhodes electric piano at Davis's insistence. Hancock adapted quickly to the new instruments, which proved to be instrumental in his future artistic endeavors.
Under the pretext that he had returned late from a honeymoon in Brazil, Hancock was dismissed from Davis's band. In the summer of 1968 Hancock formed his own sextet. However, although Davis soon disbanded his quintet to search for a new sound, Hancock, despite his departure from the working band, continued to appear on Miles Davis records for the next few years. Noteworthy appearances include In a Silent Way, A Tribute to Jack Johnson and On the Corner.
Fat Albert and Mwandishi
Hancock left
Blue Note in 1969, signing up with
Warner Bros. Records. In 1969, Hancock composed the soundtrack for the
Bill Cosby animated children's television show
Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids. Titled
Fat Albert Rotunda, the album was mainly an
R&B;-influenced album with strong jazz overtones. One of the jazzier songs on the record, "Tell Me A Bedtime Story", was later re-worked as a more electronic sounding song for the
Quincy Jones album,
Sounds...and Stuff Like That.
Hancock became fascinated with accumulating musical gadgets and toys. Together with the profound influence of Davis's Bitches Brew, this fascination would culminate in a series of albums in which electronic instruments are coupled with acoustic instruments.
Hancock's first ventures into electronic music started with a sextet comprising Hancock, bassist Buster Williams and drummer Billy Hart, and a trio of horn players: Eddie Henderson (trumpet), Julian Priester (trombone), and multireedist Bennie Maupin. Dr. Patrick Gleeson was eventually added to the mix to play and program the synthesizers. In fact, Hancock was one of the first jazz pianists to completely embrace electronic keyboards.
The sextet, later a septet with the addition of Gleeson, made three experimental albums under Hancock's name: Mwandishi (1971), Crossings (1972) (both on Warner Bros. Records), and Sextant (1973) (released on Columbia Records); two more, Realization and Inside Out, were recorded under Henderson's name with essentially the same personnel. The music often had very free improvisations and showed influence from the electronic music of some contemporary classical composers.
Synthesizer player Patrick Gleeson, one of the first musicians to play synthesizer on any jazz recording, introduced the instrument on Crossings, released in 1972, one of a handful of influential electronic jazz/fusion recordings to feature synthesizer that same year. On Crossings (as well as on I Sing the Body Electric), the synthesizer is used more as an improvisatory global orchestration device than as a strictly melodic instrument. This reflected Gleeson's (and Powell's) interest in contemporary European electronic music techniques and in the West Coast synthesis techniques of Morton Subotnick and other contemporaries, several of whom were resident at one time or another, as was Gleeson, at The Mills College Tape Music Center. An early review of Crossings in Downbeat magazine complained about the synthesizer, but a few years later the magazine noted in a cover story on Gleeson that he was "a pioneer" in the field of electronics in jazz. Gleeson used a modular Moog III for the recording of the album, but used an ARP 2600 synthesizer, and occasionally an ARP Soloist for the group's live performances. On Sextant Gleeson used the more compact ARP synthesizers instead of the larger Moog III for both studio and live performances. In the albums following The Crossings, Hancock started to play synth himself and unlike Gleeson, he plays it as a melodical and rhythm instrument just like electric pianos.
Hancock's three records released in 1971-1973 became later known as the "Mwandishi" albums, so-called after a Swahili name Hancock sometimes used during this era (Mwandishi is Swahili for writer). The first two, including Fat Albert Rotunda were made available on the 2-CD set Mwandishi: the Complete Warner Bros. Recordings, released in 1994, but are now sold as individual CD editions. Of the three electronic albums, Sextant is probably the most experimental since the Arp synthesizers are used extensively, and some advanced improvisation ("post-modal free impressionism") is found on the tracks "Hornets" and "Hidden Shadows" (which is in the meter 19/4). "Hornets" was later revised on the 2001 album Future2Future as "Virtual Hornets".
Among the instruments Hancock and Gleeson used were Fender Rhodes piano, ARP Odyssey, ARP 2600, ARP Pro Soloist Synthesizer, a Mellotron and the Moog synthesizer III.
All three Warner Bros. albums Fat Albert Rotunda, Mwandishi, and Crossings, were remastered in 2001 and released in Europe but were not released in the U.S.A. as of June 2005. In the Winter of 2006-2007 a remastered edition of Crossings was announced and scheduled for release in the Spring.
Headhunters and Death Wish
After the sometimes "airy" and decidedly experimental "Mwandishi" albums, Hancock was eager to perform more "earthy" and "funky" music. The Mwandishi albums — though these days seen as respected early fusion recordings — had seen mixed reviews and poor sales, so it is probable that Hancock was motivated by financial concerns as well as artistic restlessness. Hancock was also bothered by the fact that many people did not understand avant-garde music. He explained that he loved funk music, especially Sly Stone's music, so he wanted to try to make funk himself.
He gathered a new band, which he called The Headhunters, keeping only Maupin from the sextet and adding bassist Paul Jackson, percussionist Bill Summers, and drummer Harvey Mason. The album Head Hunters, released in 1973, was a major hit and crossed over to pop audiences, though it prompted criticism from some jazz fans. Head Hunters was recorded at Different Fur studios.
Despite charges of "selling out", Stephen Erlewine of Allmusic positively reviewed the album amongst other friendly critics, saying, "Head Hunters still sounds fresh and vital three decades after its initial release, and its genre-bending proved vastly influential on not only jazz, but funk, soul, and hip-hop."
Mason was replaced by Mike Clark, and the band released a second album, Thrust, the following year. (A live album from a Japan performance, consisting of compositions from those first two Head Hunters releases was released in 1975 as Flood. The record has since been released on CD in Japan.) This was almost as well-received as its predecessor, if not attaining the same level of commercial success. The Headhunters made another successful album (called Survival of the Fittest) without Hancock, while Hancock himself started to make even more commercial albums, often featuring members of the band, but no longer billed as The Headhunters. The Headhunters reunited with Hancock in 1998 for Return of the Headhunters, and a version of the band (featuring Jackson and Clark) continues to play live and record.
In 1973, Hancock composed his second masterful soundtrack to the controversial film The Spook Who Sat By The Door. Then in 1974, Hancock also composed the soundtrack to the first Death Wish film. One of his memorable songs, "Joanna's Theme", would later be re-recorded in 1997 on his duet album with Wayne Shorter 1 + 1.
Hancock's next jazz-funk albums of the 1970s were Man-Child (1975), and Secrets (1976), which point toward the more commercial direction Hancock would take over the next decade. These albums feature the members of the 'Headhunters' band, but also a variety of other musicians in important roles.
Back to the Basics: VSOP and the Future Shock
During late 1970s and early 1980s, Hancock toured with his "V.S.O.P." quintet, which featured all the members of the 1960s Miles Davis quintet except Davis, who was replaced by trumpet giant
Freddie Hubbard. There was constant speculation that one day Davis would reunite with his classic band, but he never did so. VSOP recorded several live albums in the late 1970s, including
VSOP (1976), and
(1977).
In 1978, Hancock recorded a duet with Chick Corea, who had replaced him in the Miles Davis band a decade earlier. He also released a solo acoustic piano album titled The Piano (1978), which, like so many Hancock albums at the time, was initially released only in Japan. (It was finally released in the US in 2004.) Several other Japan-only releases have yet to surface in the US, such as Dedication (1974), (1977), and Direct Step (1978). was a VSOP album remastered for the US in 2004, and included an entire second concert from the July 1979 tour.
From 1978-1982, Hancock recorded many albums consisting of jazz-inflected disco and pop music, beginning with Sunlight (featuring guest musicians like Tony Williams and Jaco Pastorius on the last track) (1978). Singing through a vocoder, he earned a British hit, "I Thought It Was You", although critics were unimpressed. This led to more vocoder on the 1979 follow-up, Feets, Don't Fail Me Now, which gave him another UK hit in "You Bet Your Love". Albums such as Monster (1980), Magic Windows (1981), and Lite Me Up (1982) were some of Hancock's most criticized and unwelcomed albums, the market at the time being somewhat saturated with similar pop-jazz hybrids from the likes of former bandmate Freddie Hubbard. Hancock himself had quite a limited role in some of those albums, leaving singing, composing and even producing to others. Mr. Hands (1980) is perhaps the one album during this period that was critically acclaimed. To the delight of many fans, there were no vocals on the album, and one track featured Jaco Pastorius on bass. The album contains a wide variety of different styles, including a disco instrumental song, a Latin-jazz number and an electronic piece in which Hancock plays alone with the help of computers.
Hancock also found time to record more traditional jazz whilst creating more commercially oriented music. He toured with Tony Williams and Ron Carter in 1981, recording Herbie Hancock Trio, a five-track live album released only in Japan. A month later, he recorded Quartet with Wynton Marsalis, released in the US the following year. Hancock, Williams and Carter toured internationally with Wynton and his brother Branford Marsalis in what was affectinately known as "VSOP II". This quintet can be heard on Marsalis' debut album on Columbia (1981). In 1982 he contributed to the Simple Minds album New Gold Dream (81,82,83,84), playing a synthesizer solo on the track 'Hunter and The Hunted'.
In 1983, Hancock had a mainstream hit with the Grammy-award winning instrumental single "Rockit" from the album Future Shock. It was perhaps the first mainstream single to feature scratching, and also featured an innovative animated music video which was directed by Godley and Creme and showed several robot-like artworks by Jim Whiting. The video was a hit on MTV. The video won 5 different categories at the inaugural MTV Video Music Awards. This single ushered in a collaboration with noted bassist and producer Bill Laswell. Hancock experimented with electronic music on a string of three LPs produced by Laswell: Future Shock (1983), Sound-System (1984) and Perfect Machine (1988). Despite the success of "Rockit", Hancock's trio of Laswell-produced albums (particularly the latter two) are among the most critically derided of his entire career, perhaps even more so than his erstwhile pop-jazz experiments. Hancock's level of actual contribution to these albums was also questioned, with some critics contending that the Laswell albums should have been labelled "Bill Laswell featuring Herbie Hancock".
During this period, he appeared onstage at the Grammy awards with Stevie Wonder, Howard Jones, and Thomas Dolby, in a famous synthesizer jam (The video on Youtube can be found here.). Lesser known works from the 80s are the live album Jazz Africa and the studio album Village Life (1984) which were recorded with Gambian kora player Foday Musa Suso. Also, in 1985 he performed as a guest on the album So Red The Rose by the Duran Duran shoot off group Arcadia. He also provided introductory and closing comments for the PBS rebroadcast in the United States of the BBC educational series from the mid-1980s, Rock School (not to be confused with the most recent Gene Simmons' Rock School series).
In 1986, Hancock performed and acted in the film 'Round Midnight. He also wrote the score/soundtrack, for which he won an Academy Award for Original Music Score. Often he would write music for TV commercials. "Maiden Voyage", in fact, started out as a cologne advertisement. At the end of the Perfect Machine tour, Hancock decided to leave Columbia Records after a 15-plus-year relationship.
As of June 2005, almost half of his Columbia recordings have been remastered. The first three US releases, Sextant, Head Hunters and Thrust as well as the last four releases Future Shock, Sound-System, the soundtrack to Round Midnight and Perfect Machine. Everything released in America from Man-Child to Quartet has yet to be remastered. Some albums, made and initially released in the US, were remastered between 1999 and 2001 in other countries such as Magic Windows and Monster. Hancock also re-released some of his Japan-only releases in the West, such as The Piano.
1990s and later
After leaving Columbia, Hancock took a break. Then, with friends
Ron Carter,
Tony Williams,
Wayne Shorter, and Davis admirer
Wallace Roney, they recorded
A Tribute to Miles which was released in 1994. The album contained two live recordings and studio recording classics with Roney playing Davis's part as trumpet player. The album won a Grammy for best group album. He also toured with
Jack DeJohnette,
Dave Holland and
Pat Metheny in 1990 on their Parallel Realities tour, which included a memorable performance at the
Montreux Jazz Festival in July 1990.
Hancock's next album, Dis Is Da Drum released in 1994 saw him return to Acid Jazz. Also in 1994, Hancock appeared on the Red Hot Organization's compilation album, . The album, meant to raise awareness and funds in support of the AIDS epidemic in relation to the African American community, was heralded as "Album of the Year" by Time Magazine.
1995's The New Standard found him and an all-star band including John Scofield, Jack DeJohnette and Michael Brecker interpreting pop songs by Nirvana, Stevie Wonder, The Beatles, Prince, Peter Gabriel and others. A 1997 duet album with Wayne Shorter titled 1 + 1 was successful, the song "Aung San Suu Kyi" winning the Grammy Award for Best Instrumental Composition, and Hancock also achieved great success in 1998 with his album Gershwin's World which featured inventive readings of George & Ira Gershwin standards by Hancock and a plethora of guest stars including Stevie Wonder, Joni Mitchell and Shorter. Hancock toured the world in the support of Gershwin's World with a sextet that featured Cyro Baptista, Terri Lynne Carrington, Ira Coleman, Eli Degibri and Eddie Henderson.
In 2001, Hancock recorded Future2Future, which reunited Hancock with Bill Laswell and featured doses of electronica as well as turntablist Rob Swift of The X-Ecutioners. Hancock later toured with the band, and released a live concert DVD with a different lineup which also included the "Rockit" music video. Also in 2001, Hancock partnered with Michael Brecker and Roy Hargrove to record a live concert album saluting Davis and John Coltrane called recorded live in Toronto. The threesome toured t support the album, and have toured on and off through 2005.
2005 saw the release of a duet album called Possibilities. It features duets with Carlos Santana, Paul Simon, Annie Lennox, John Mayer, Christina Aguilera, Sting and others. In 2006, Possibilities was nominated for Grammy awards in two categories: "A Song For You", featuring Christina Aguilera was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Pop Instrumental Performance, and "Gelo No Montanha", featuring Trey Anastasio on guitar was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Instrumental Performance. Neither nomination resulted in an award.
Also in 2005, Hancock toured Europe with a new quartet that included Beninese guitarist Lionel Loueke, and explored textures ranging from ambient to straight jazz to African music. Plus, during the Summer of 2005, Hancock re-staffed the famous Head Hunters and went on tour with them, including a performance at The Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival.
However, this lineup did not consist of any of the original Headhunters musicians. The group included Marcus Miller, Terri Lyne Carrington, Lionel Loueke and John Mayer. Hancock also served as the first artist in residence for Bonnaroo that summer.
Also in 2006, Sony BMG Music Entertainment (which bought out Hancock's old label, Columbia Records) released the two-disc retrospective The Essential Herbie Hancock. This two-disc set is the first compilation of Herbie's work at Warner Bros. Records, Blue Note Records, Columbia and at Verve/Polygram. This became Hancock's second major compilation of work since the 2002 Columbia-only "The Herbie Hancock Box" which was released at first in a plastic 4x4 cube then re-released in 2004 in a long box set. Hancock also in 2006, recorded a new song with Josh Groban and Eric Mouquet (co-founder of Deep Forest) titled "Machine". It is featured on Josh Groban's CD "Awake". Hancock also recorded and improvised with guitarist Lionel Loueke on Loueke's debut album Virgin Forest on the ObliqSound label in 2006, resulting in two improvisational tracks "Le Réveil des Agneaux (The Awakening of the Lambs)" and "La Poursuite du lion (The Lion's Pursuit)".
Hancock, a longtime associate and friend of Joni Mitchell released a 2007 album, , that paid tribute to her work. Norah Jones and Tina Turner recorded vocals, as did Corinne Bailey Rae, and Leonard Cohen contributed a spoken piece set to Hancock's piano. Mitchell herself also made an appearance. The album was released on September 25, simultaneously with the release of Mitchell's album Shine. "River" was nominated for and won the 2008 Album of the Year Grammy Award, only the second jazz album ever to receive either honor. The album also won a Grammy for Best Contemporary Jazz Album, and the song "Both Sides Now" was nominated for Best Instrumental Jazz Solo.
Recently Hancock performed at the Shriner's Children's Hospital Charity Fundraiser with Sheila E, Jim Brickman, Kirk Whalum and Wendy Alane Wright.
His latest work includes assisting the production of the Kanye West track "RoboCop", found on 808s & Heartbreak.
On June 14, 2008, Hancock performed at Rhythm on the Vine at the South Coast Winery in Temecula, California for Shriners Hospital for Children. Other performers at the event, that raised $515,000 for Shriners Hospital, were contemporary music artist Jim Brickman, and Sheila E. & the E. Family Band.
On January 18, 2009, Hancock performed at the , marking the start of inaugural celebrations for American President Barack Obama. Hancock also performed the Rhapsody in Blue at the 2009 Classical BRIT Awards with classical pianist Lang Lang. Hancock was named as the Los Angeles Philharmonic's creative chair for jazz for 2010-12. In June 2010, Hancock released his newest album, The Imagine Project.
On June 5, 2010, Hancock received an Alumni Award from his alma mater, Grinnell College.
Discography
{| cellspacing="0" cellpadding="2" border="0"
|- style="background:#ffdead;"
! align="left" style="border-bottom:1px solid grey; border-top:1px solid grey;" | Title
! width="10" style="border-bottom:1px solid grey; border-top:1px solid grey;" |
! align="left" style="border-bottom:1px solid grey; border-top:1px solid grey;" | Year
! width="10" style="border-bottom:1px solid grey; border-top:1px solid grey;" |
! align="left" style="border-bottom:1px solid grey; border-top:1px solid grey;" | Label
|-
| style="border-bottom:1px solid grey;" |
Takin' Off
| style="border-bottom:1px solid grey;" |
| style="border-bottom:1px solid grey;" | 1962
| style="border-bottom:1px solid grey;" |
| style="border-bottom:1px solid grey;" |
Blue Note
|-
| style="border-bottom:1px solid grey;" |
My Point of View
| style="border-bottom:1px solid grey;" |
| style="border-bottom:1px solid grey;" | 1963
| style="border-bottom:1px solid grey;" |
| style="border-bottom:1px solid grey;" | Blue Note
|-
| style="border-bottom:1px solid grey;" |
Inventions and Dimensions
| style="border-bottom:1px solid grey;" |
| style="border-bottom:1px solid grey;" | 1963
| style="border-bottom:1px solid grey;" |
| style="border-bottom:1px solid grey;" | Blue Note
|-
| style="border-bottom:1px solid grey;" |
Empyrean Isles
| style="border-bottom:1px solid grey;" |
| style="border-bottom:1px solid grey;" | 1964
| style="border-bottom:1px solid grey;" |
| style="border-bottom:1px solid grey;" | Blue Note
|-
| style="border-bottom:1px solid grey;" |
Maiden Voyage
| style="border-bottom:1px solid grey;" |
| style="border-bottom:1px solid grey;" | 1965
| style="border-bottom:1px solid grey;" |
| style="border-bottom:1px solid grey;" | Blue Note
|-
| style="border-bottom:1px solid grey;" |
Blow-Up (Soundtrack)
| style="border-bottom:1px solid grey;" |
| style="border-bottom:1px solid grey;" | 1966
| style="border-bottom:1px solid grey;" |
| style="border-bottom:1px solid grey;" | MGM
|-
| style="border-bottom:1px solid grey;" |
Speak Like a Child
| style="border-bottom:1px solid grey;" |
| style="border-bottom:1px solid grey;" | 1968
| style="border-bottom:1px solid grey;" |
| style="border-bottom:1px solid grey;" | Blue Note
|-
| style="border-bottom:1px solid grey;" |
The Prisoner
| style="border-bottom:1px solid grey;" |
| style="border-bottom:1px solid grey;" | 1969
| style="border-bottom:1px solid grey;" |
| style="border-bottom:1px solid grey;" | Blue Note
|-
| style="border-bottom:1px solid grey;" |
Fat Albert Rotunda
| style="border-bottom:1px solid grey;" |
| style="border-bottom:1px solid grey;" | 1969
| style="border-bottom:1px solid grey;" |
| style="border-bottom:1px solid grey;" |
Warner Bros.
|-
| style="border-bottom:1px solid grey;" |
Mwandishi
| style="border-bottom:1px solid grey;" |
| style="border-bottom:1px solid grey;" | 1970
| style="border-bottom:1px solid grey;" |
| style="border-bottom:1px solid grey;" | Warner Bros.
|-
| style="border-bottom:1px solid grey;" |
He Who Lives In Many Places (with bassist Terry Plumeri)
| style="border-bottom:1px solid grey;" |
| style="border-bottom:1px solid grey;" | 1971
| style="border-bottom:1px solid grey;" |
| style="border-bottom:1px solid grey;" | Airborne.
|-
| style="border-bottom:1px solid grey;" |
Crossings
| style="border-bottom:1px solid grey;" |
| style="border-bottom:1px solid grey;" | 1972
| style="border-bottom:1px solid grey;" |
| style="border-bottom:1px solid grey;" | Warner Bros.
|-
| style="border-bottom:1px solid grey;" |
Sextant
| style="border-bottom:1px solid grey;" |
| style="border-bottom:1px solid grey;" | 1973
| style="border-bottom:1px solid grey;" |
| style="border-bottom:1px solid grey;" |
Columbia
|-
| style="border-bottom:1px solid grey;" |
Head Hunters
| style="border-bottom:1px solid grey;" |
| style="border-bottom:1px solid grey;" | 1973
| style="border-bottom:1px solid grey;" |
| style="border-bottom:1px solid grey;" | Columbia
|-
| style="border-bottom:1px solid grey;" |
Thrust
| style="border-bottom:1px solid grey;" |
| style="border-bottom:1px solid grey;" | 1974
| style="border-bottom:1px solid grey;" |
| style="border-bottom:1px solid grey;" | Columbia
|-
| style="border-bottom:1px solid grey;" |
Death Wish (Soundtrack)
| style="border-bottom:1px solid grey;" |
| style="border-bottom:1px solid grey;" | 1974
| style="border-bottom:1px solid grey;" |
| style="border-bottom:1px solid grey;" | Columbia
|-
| style="border-bottom:1px solid grey;" |
Dedication
| style="border-bottom:1px solid grey;" |
| style="border-bottom:1px solid grey;" | 1974
| style="border-bottom:1px solid grey;" |
| style="border-bottom:1px solid grey;" | Columbia
|-
| style="border-bottom:1px solid grey;" |
Man-Child
| style="border-bottom:1px solid grey;" |
| style="border-bottom:1px solid grey;" | 1975
| style="border-bottom:1px solid grey;" |
| style="border-bottom:1px solid grey;" | Columbia
|-
| style="border-bottom:1px solid grey;" |
Flood (Live album)
| style="border-bottom:1px solid grey;" |
| style="border-bottom:1px solid grey;" | 1975
| style="border-bottom:1px solid grey;" |
| style="border-bottom:1px solid grey;" | Columbia
|-
| style="border-bottom:1px solid grey;" |
Secrets
| style="border-bottom:1px solid grey;" |
| style="border-bottom:1px solid grey;" | 1976
| style="border-bottom:1px solid grey;" |
| style="border-bottom:1px solid grey;" | Columbia
|-
| style="border-bottom:1px solid grey;" |
VSOP (Live album)
| style="border-bottom:1px solid grey;" |
| style="border-bottom:1px solid grey;" | 1976
| style="border-bottom:1px solid grey;" |
| style="border-bottom:1px solid grey;" | Columbia
|-
| style="border-bottom:1px solid grey;" |
Herbie Hancock Trio
| style="border-bottom:1px solid grey;" |
| style="border-bottom:1px solid grey;" | 1977
| style="border-bottom:1px solid grey;" |
| style="border-bottom:1px solid grey;" | Columbia
|-
| style="border-bottom:1px solid grey;" |
(Live album)
| style="border-bottom:1px solid grey;" |
| style="border-bottom:1px solid grey;" | 1977
| style="border-bottom:1px solid grey;" |
| style="border-bottom:1px solid grey;" | Columbia
|-
| style="border-bottom:1px solid grey;" |
(Live album)
| style="border-bottom:1px solid grey;" |
| style="border-bottom:1px solid grey;" | 1977
| style="border-bottom:1px solid grey;" |
| style="border-bottom:1px solid grey;" | Columbia
|-
| style="border-bottom:1px solid grey;" |
Sunlight
| style="border-bottom:1px solid grey;" |
| style="border-bottom:1px solid grey;" | 1977
| style="border-bottom:1px solid grey;" |
| style="border-bottom:1px solid grey;" | Columbia
|-
| style="border-bottom:1px solid grey;" |
Directstep
| style="border-bottom:1px solid grey;" |
| style="border-bottom:1px solid grey;" | 1978
| style="border-bottom:1px solid grey;" |
| style="border-bottom:1px solid grey;" | Columbia
|-
| style="border-bottom:1px solid grey;" |
(Live album with
Chick Corea)
| style="border-bottom:1px solid grey;" |
| style="border-bottom:1px solid grey;" | 1978
| style="border-bottom:1px solid grey;" |
| style="border-bottom:1px solid grey;" | Columbia
|-
| style="border-bottom:1px solid grey;" |
The Piano
| style="border-bottom:1px solid grey;" |
| style="border-bottom:1px solid grey;" | 1979
| style="border-bottom:1px solid grey;" |
| style="border-bottom:1px solid grey;" | Columbia
|-
| style="border-bottom:1px solid grey;" |
Feets, Don't Fail Me Now
| style="border-bottom:1px solid grey;" |
| style="border-bottom:1px solid grey;" | 1979
| style="border-bottom:1px solid grey;" |
| style="border-bottom:1px solid grey;" | Columbia
|-
| style="border-bottom:1px solid grey;" |
(Live album)
| style="border-bottom:1px solid grey;" |
| style="border-bottom:1px solid grey;" | 1979
| style="border-bottom:1px solid grey;" |
| style="border-bottom:1px solid grey;" | Columbia
|-
| style="border-bottom:1px solid grey;" |
CoreaHancock (Live album with
Chick Corea)
| style="border-bottom:1px solid grey;" |
| style="border-bottom:1px solid grey;" | 1979
| style="border-bottom:1px solid grey;" |
| style="border-bottom:1px solid grey;" |
Polydor
|-
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Monster
| style="border-bottom:1px solid grey;" |
| style="border-bottom:1px solid grey;" | 1980
| style="border-bottom:1px solid grey;" |
| style="border-bottom:1px solid grey;" | Columbia
|-
| style="border-bottom:1px solid grey;" |
Mr. Hands
| style="border-bottom:1px solid grey;" |
| style="border-bottom:1px solid grey;" | 1980
| style="border-bottom:1px solid grey;" |
| style="border-bottom:1px solid grey;" | Columbia
|-
| style="border-bottom:1px solid grey;" |
Herbie Hancock Trio
| style="border-bottom:1px solid grey;" |
| style="border-bottom:1px solid grey;" | 1981
| style="border-bottom:1px solid grey;" |
| style="border-bottom:1px solid grey;" | Columbia
|-
| style="border-bottom:1px solid grey;" |
Magic Windows
| style="border-bottom:1px solid grey;" |
| style="border-bottom:1px solid grey;" | 1981
| style="border-bottom:1px solid grey;" |
| style="border-bottom:1px solid grey;" | Columbia
|-
| style="border-bottom:1px solid grey;" |
Lite Me Up
| style="border-bottom:1px solid grey;" |
| style="border-bottom:1px solid grey;" | 1982
| style="border-bottom:1px solid grey;" |
| style="border-bottom:1px solid grey;" | Columbia
|-
| style="border-bottom:1px solid grey;" |
Quartet (Live album)
| style="border-bottom:1px solid grey;" |
| style="border-bottom:1px solid grey;" | 1982
| style="border-bottom:1px solid grey;" |
| style="border-bottom:1px solid grey;" | Columbia
|-
| style="border-bottom:1px solid grey;" |
Future Shock
| style="border-bottom:1px solid grey;" |
| style="border-bottom:1px solid grey;" | 1983
| style="border-bottom:1px solid grey;" |
| style="border-bottom:1px solid grey;" | Columbia
|-
| style="border-bottom:1px solid grey;" |
Sound-System
| style="border-bottom:1px solid grey;" |
| style="border-bottom:1px solid grey;" | 1984
| style="border-bottom:1px solid grey;" |
| style="border-bottom:1px solid grey;" | Columbia
|-
| style="border-bottom:1px solid grey;" |
Village Life (with
Foday Musa Suso)
| style="border-bottom:1px solid grey;" |
| style="border-bottom:1px solid grey;" | 1985
| style="border-bottom:1px solid grey;" |
| style="border-bottom:1px solid grey;" | Columbia
|-
| style="border-bottom:1px solid grey;" |
Round Midnight (Soundtrack)
| style="border-bottom:1px solid grey;" |
| style="border-bottom:1px solid grey;" | 1986
| style="border-bottom:1px solid grey;" |
| style="border-bottom:1px solid grey;" | Columbia
|-
| style="border-bottom:1px solid grey;" |
Jazz Africa (Live album with
Foday Musa Suso)
| style="border-bottom:1px solid grey;" |
| style="border-bottom:1px solid grey;" | 1987
| style="border-bottom:1px solid grey;" |
| style="border-bottom:1px solid grey;" |
Polygram
|-
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Perfect Machine
| style="border-bottom:1px solid grey;" |
| style="border-bottom:1px solid grey;" | 1988
| style="border-bottom:1px solid grey;" |
| style="border-bottom:1px solid grey;" | Columbia
|-
| style="border-bottom:1px solid grey;" |
A Tribute to Miles
| style="border-bottom:1px solid grey;" |
| style="border-bottom:1px solid grey;" | 1994
| style="border-bottom:1px solid grey;" |
| style="border-bottom:1px solid grey;" |
Qwest/Warner Bros.
|-
| style="border-bottom:1px solid grey;" |
Dis Is Da Drum
| style="border-bottom:1px solid grey;" |
| style="border-bottom:1px solid grey;" | 1994
| style="border-bottom:1px solid grey;" |
| style="border-bottom:1px solid grey;" |
Verve/
Mercury
|-
| style="border-bottom:1px solid grey;" |
The New Standard
| style="border-bottom:1px solid grey;" |
| style="border-bottom:1px solid grey;" | 1995
| style="border-bottom:1px solid grey;" |
| style="border-bottom:1px solid grey;" | Verve
|-
| style="border-bottom:1px solid grey;" |
1 + 1 (with
Wayne Shorter)
| style="border-bottom:1px solid grey;" |
| style="border-bottom:1px solid grey;" | 1997
| style="border-bottom:1px solid grey;" |
| style="border-bottom:1px solid grey;" | Verve
|-
| style="border-bottom:1px solid grey;" |
Gershwin's World
| style="border-bottom:1px solid grey;" |
| style="border-bottom:1px solid grey;" | 1998
| style="border-bottom:1px solid grey;" |
| style="border-bottom:1px solid grey;" | Verve
|-
| style="border-bottom:1px solid grey;" |
Future2Future
| style="border-bottom:1px solid grey;" |
| style="border-bottom:1px solid grey;" | 2001
| style="border-bottom:1px solid grey;" |
| style="border-bottom:1px solid grey;" | Transparent
|-
| style="border-bottom:1px solid grey;" |
(Live album)
| style="border-bottom:1px solid grey;" |
| style="border-bottom:1px solid grey;" | 2002
| style="border-bottom:1px solid grey;" |
| style="border-bottom:1px solid grey;" | Verve
|-
| style="border-bottom:1px solid grey;" |
Possibilities
| style="border-bottom:1px solid grey;" |
| style="border-bottom:1px solid grey;" | 2005
| style="border-bottom:1px solid grey;" |
| style="border-bottom:1px solid grey;" | Concord/Hear Music
|-
| style="border-bottom:1px solid grey;" |
| style="border-bottom:1px solid grey;" |
| style="border-bottom:1px solid grey;" | 2007
| style="border-bottom:1px solid grey;" |
| style="border-bottom:1px solid grey;" | Verve
|-
| style="border-bottom:1px solid grey;" |
| style="border-bottom:1px solid grey;" |
| style="border-bottom:1px solid grey;" | 2008
| style="border-bottom:1px solid grey;" |
| style="border-bottom:1px solid grey;" | Verve
|-
| style="border-bottom:1px solid grey;" |
The Imagine Project
| style="border-bottom:1px solid grey;" |
| style="border-bottom:1px solid grey;" | 2010
| style="border-bottom:1px solid grey;" |
| style="border-bottom:1px solid grey;" | Hancock
|}
Filmography
As a Leader
2000: Dejohnette, Hancock, Holland and Metheny - Live in Concert
2002:
Herbie Hancock Trio: Hurricane! with
Ron Carter and
Billy Cobham
2002: The Jazz Channel Presents Herbie Hancock (BET on Jazz) with Cyro Baptista, Terri Lynne Carrington, Ira Coleman, Eli Degibri and Eddie Henderson
2004: Herbie Hancock - Future2Future Live
2006: Herbie Hancock - Possibilities with John Mayer, Christina Aguilera, Joss Stone, and more
Awards
Academy Awards
1986, Original Soundtrack, for Round Midnight
Grammy Awards
# 1984,
Best R&B; Instrumental Performance, for
Rockit
# 1985, Best R&B; Instrumental Performance, for
Sound-System
# 1988,
Best Instrumental Composition, for
Call Sheet Blues
# 1995,
Best Jazz Instrumental Performance, Individual Or Group, for
A Tribute to Miles
# 1997, Best Instrumental Composition, for
Manhattan (Island Of Lights And Love)
# 1999, Best Instrumental Arrangement Accompanying Vocal(s), for
St. Louis Blues
# 1999, Best Jazz Instrumental Performance, Individual Or Group, for
Gershwin's World
# 2003, Best Jazz Instrumental Album, Individual or Group, for
# 2003, Best Jazz Instrumental Solo, for
My Ship
# 2005, Best Jazz Instrumental Solo, for
Speak Like a Child
# 2008,
Album of the Year, for
# 2008,
Best Contemporary Jazz Album, for
Playboy Music Poll
Best Jazz Group, 1985
Best Jazz Keyboards, 1985
Best Jazz Album - Rockit, 1985
Best Jazz Keyboards, 1986
Best R&B; Instrumentalist, 1987
Best Jazz Instrumentalist, 1988
Keyboard Magazine's Readers Poll
Best Jazz & Pop Keyboardist, 1983
Best Jazz Pianist, 1987
Best Jazz Keyboardist, 1987
Best Jazz Pianist, 1988
Other notable awards
MTV Awards (5 awards in total) - Best Concept Video - Rockit, 1983–84
Gold Note Jazz Awards - NY Chapter of the National Black MBA Association, 1985
French Award Officer of the Order of Arts & Letters-Paris, 1985
BMI Film Music Award "Round Midnight", 1986
U.S. Radio Award "Best Original Music Scoring - Thom McAnn Shoes", 1986
Los Angeles Film Critics Association "Best Score - Round Midnight", 1986
BMI Film Music Award "Colors", 1989
Soul Train Music Award "Best Jazz Album - The New Standard", 1997
Festival International Jazz de Montreal Prix Miles Davis, 1997
VH1's 100 Greatest Videos "Rockit" is "10th Greatest Video", 2001
NEA Jazz Masters Award, 2004
Downbeat Magazine Readers Poll Hall of Fame, 2005
Album of the Year, 2007
Harvard Foundation Artist of the Year, 2008
References
External links
Official website of Herbie Hancock
Official Herbie Hancock MySpace page
Herbie Hancock at Verve Records
River:The Joni Letters at Verve Records
Possibilities Herbie Hancock
Discography Herbie Hancock Discography
Interview with Herbie Hancock on music and technology from AppleMatters
Interview with Herbie Hancock on the "Possibilities" album release from LiveDaily
Herbie Hancock: Outside The Comfort Zone Herbie Hancock interview from JamBase
"Herbie Hancock: Essential Recordings" by Ted Gioia (www.jazz.com)
Herbie Hancock's Grinnell College Alumni Award citation from Grinnell College Alumni Assembly on June 5, 2010.
Category:1940 births
Category:20th-century classical composers
Category:African American songwriters
Category:American Buddhists
Category:American funk keyboardists
Category:American jazz bandleaders
Category:American jazz composers
Category:American jazz pianists
Category:Musicians from Chicago, Illinois
Category:Grammy Award winners
Category:Grinnell College alumni
Category:Hard bop pianists
Category:Jazz fusion pianists
Category:Jazz-funk pianists
Category:Living people
Category:Miles Davis
Category:Blue Note Records artists
Category:Modal jazz pianists
Category:Post-bop pianists
Category:Converts to Buddhism
Category:Members of Soka Gakkai
Category:Keytarists
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