Quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM) ( /ˈkwɑːm/ or /ˈkæm/ or simply "Q-A-M") is both an analog and a digital modulation scheme. It conveys two analog message signals, or two digital bit streams, by changing (modulating) the amplitudes of two carrier waves, using the amplitude-shift keying (ASK) digital modulation scheme or amplitude modulation (AM) analog modulation scheme. The two carrier waves, usually sinusoids, are out of phase with each other by 90° and are thus called quadrature carriers or quadrature components — hence the name of the scheme. The modulated waves are summed, and the resulting waveform is a combination of both phase-shift keying (PSK) and amplitude-shift keying (ASK), or (in the analog case) of phase modulation (PM) and amplitude modulation. In the digital QAM case, a finite number of at least two phases and at least two amplitudes are used. PSK modulators are often designed using the QAM principle, but are not considered as QAM since the amplitude of the modulated carrier signal is constant. QAM is used extensively as a modulation scheme for digital telecommunication systems. Spectral efficiencies of 6 bit/s/Hz can be achieved with QAM.^[1]

QAM modulation is being used in optical fiber systems as bit rates increase – QAM16 and QAM64 can be optically emulated with a 3-path interferometer.^[2]

Digital QAM[link]

Like all modulation schemes, QAM conveys data by changing some aspect of a carrier signal, or the carrier wave, (usually a sinusoid) in response to a data signal. In the case of QAM, the amplitude of two waves, 90 degrees out-of-phase with each other (in quadrature) are changed (modulated or keyed) to represent the data signal. Amplitude modulating two carriers in quadrature can be equivalently viewed as both amplitude modulating and phase modulating a single carrier.

Phase modulation (analog PM) and phase-shift keying (digital PSK) can be regarded as a special case of QAM, where the magnitude of the modulating signal is a constant, with only the phase varying. This can also be extended to frequency modulation (FM) and frequency-shift keying (FSK), for these can be regarded as a special case of phase modulation.

Analog QAM[link]

Analog QAM: measured PAL colour bar signal on a vector analyser screen.

When transmitting two signals by modulating them with QAM, the transmitted signal will be of the form:

Failed to parse (Missing texvc executable; please see math/README to configure.): \ s(t) = I (t) \cos (2 \pi f_0 t) + Q (t) \sin (2 \pi f_0 t)

,

where Failed to parse (Missing texvc executable; please see math/README to configure.): I(t)

and Failed to parse (Missing texvc executable; please see math/README to configure.): Q(t)
are the modulating signals and Failed to parse (Missing texvc executable; please see math/README to configure.): f_0
is the carrier frequency.

At the receiver, these two modulating signals can be demodulated using a coherent demodulator. Such a receiver multiplies the received signal separately with both a cosine and sine signal to produce the received estimates of Failed to parse (Missing texvc executable; please see math/README to configure.): I(t)

and Failed to parse (Missing texvc executable; please see math/README to configure.): Q(t)
respectively. Because of the orthogonality property of the carrier signals, it is possible to detect the modulating signals independently.

In the ideal case Failed to parse (Missing texvc executable; please see math/README to configure.): I(t)

is demodulated by multiplying the transmitted signal with a cosine signal:

Failed to parse (Missing texvc executable; please see math/README to configure.): \begin{align} r_i(t) = & s(t) \cos (2 \pi f_0 t) \\ = & I(t) \cos (2 \pi f_0 t)\cos (2 \pi f_0 t) + Q(t) \sin (2 \pi f_0 t)\cos (2 \pi f_0 t) \end{align}

Using standard trigonometric identities, we can write it as:

Failed to parse (Missing texvc executable; please see math/README to configure.): \begin{align} r_i(t) = & \frac{1}{2} I(t) \left[1 + \cos (4 \pi f_0 t)\right] + \frac{1}{2} Q(t) \sin (4 \pi f_0 t) \\ = & \frac{1}{2} I(t) + \frac{1}{2} [I(t) \cos (4 \pi f_0 t) + Q(t) \sin (4 \pi f_0 t)] \end{align}

Low-pass filtering Failed to parse (Missing texvc executable; please see math/README to configure.): r_i(t)

removes the high frequency terms (containing Failed to parse (Missing texvc executable; please see math/README to configure.): 4\pi f_0 t

), leaving only the Failed to parse (Missing texvc executable; please see math/README to configure.): I(t)

term. This filtered signal is unaffected by Failed to parse (Missing texvc executable; please see math/README to configure.): Q(t)

, showing that the in-phase component can be received independently of the quadrature component. Similarly, we may multiply Failed to parse (Missing texvc executable; please see math/README to configure.): s(t)

by a sine wave and then low-pass filter to extract Failed to parse (Missing texvc executable; please see math/README to configure.): Q(t)

.

The phase of the received signal is assumed to be known accurately at the receiver. If the demodulating phase is even a little off, it results in crosstalk between the modulated signals. This issue of carrier synchronization at the receiver must be handled somehow in QAM systems. The coherent demodulator needs to be exactly in phase with the received signal, or otherwise the modulated signals cannot be independently received. For example analog television systems transmit a burst of the transmitting colour subcarrier after each horizontal synchronization pulse for reference.

Analog QAM is used in NTSC and PAL television systems, where the I- and Q-signals carry the components of chroma (colour) information. "Compatible QAM" or C-QUAM is used in AM stereo radio to carry the stereo difference information.

Fourier analysis of QAM[link]

In the frequency domain, QAM has a similar spectral pattern to DSB-SC modulation. Using the properties of the Fourier transform, we find that:

Failed to parse (Missing texvc executable; please see math/README to configure.): S(f) = \frac{1}{2}\left[ M_I(f - f_0) + M_I(f + f_0) \right] + \frac{1}{2j}\left[ M_Q(f - f_0) - M_Q(f + f_0) \right]

where S(f), M_I(f) and M_Q(f) are the Fourier transforms (frequency-domain representations) of s(t), I(t) and Q(t), respectively.

Quantized QAM[link]

Digital 16-QAM with example constellation points.

Like many digital modulation schemes, the constellation diagram is a useful representation. In QAM, the constellation points are usually arranged in a square grid with equal vertical and horizontal spacing, although other configurations are possible (e.g. Cross-QAM). Since in digital telecommunications the data are usually binary, the number of points in the grid is usually a power of 2 (2, 4, 8 ...). Since QAM is usually square, some of these are rare—the most common forms are 16-QAM, 64-QAM and 256-QAM. By moving to a higher-order constellation, it is possible to transmit more bits per symbol. However, if the mean energy of the constellation is to remain the same (by way of making a fair comparison), the points must be closer together and are thus more susceptible to noise and other corruption; this results in a higher bit error rate and so higher-order QAM can deliver more data less reliably than lower-order QAM, for constant mean constellation energy.

If data-rates beyond those offered by 8-PSK are required, it is more usual to move to QAM since it achieves a greater distance between adjacent points in the I-Q plane by distributing the points more evenly. The complicating factor is that the points are no longer all the same amplitude and so the demodulator must now correctly detect both phase and amplitude, rather than just phase.

64-QAM and 256-QAM are often used in digital cable television and cable modem applications. In the United States, 64-QAM and 256-QAM are the mandated modulation schemes for digital cable (see QAM tuner) as standardised by the SCTE in the standard ANSI/SCTE 07 2000. Note that many marketing people will refer to these as QAM-64 and QAM-256. In the UK, 16-QAM and 64-QAM are currently used for digital terrestrial television (Freeview and Top Up TV) and 256-QAM is planned for Freeview-HD.

Communication systems designed to achieve very high levels of spectral efficiency usually employ very dense QAM constellations. For example current Homeplug AV2 500-Mbit powerline ethernet devices use 1024-QAM and 4096-QAM modulation, as well as future devices using ITU-T G.hn standard for networking over existing home wiring (coaxial cable, phone lines and power lines); 4096-QAM provides 12 bits/symbol. Another example is VDSL2 technology for copper twisted pairs, whose constellation size goes up to 32768 points.

Ideal structure[link]

Transmitter[link]

The following picture shows the ideal structure of a QAM transmitter, with a carrier frequency Failed to parse (Missing texvc executable; please see math/README to configure.): f_0

and the frequency response of the transmitter's filter Failed to parse (Missing texvc executable; please see math/README to configure.): H_t

First the flow of bits to be transmitted is split into two equal parts: this process generates two independent signals to be transmitted. They are encoded separately just like they were in an amplitude-shift keying (ASK) modulator. Then one channel (the one "in phase") is multiplied by a cosine, while the other channel (in "quadrature") is multiplied by a sine. This way there is a phase of 90° between them. They are simply added one to the other and sent through the real channel.

The sent signal can be expressed in the form:

Failed to parse (Missing texvc executable; please see math/README to configure.): s(t) = \sum_{n=-\infty}^{\infty} \left[ v_c [n] \cdot h_t (t - n T_s) \cos (2 \pi f_0 t) - v_s[n] \cdot h_t (t - n T_s) \sin (2 \pi f_0 t) \right],

where Failed to parse (Missing texvc executable; please see math/README to configure.): v_c[n]

and Failed to parse (Missing texvc executable; please see math/README to configure.): v_s[n]
are the voltages applied in response to the Failed to parse (Missing texvc executable; please see math/README to configure.): n

^th symbol to the cosine and sine waves respectively.

Receiver[link]

The receiver simply performs the inverse process of the transmitter. Its ideal structure is shown in the picture below with Failed to parse (Missing texvc executable; please see math/README to configure.): H_r

the receive filter's frequency response :

Multiplying by a cosine (or a sine) and by a low-pass filter it is possible to extract the component in phase (or in quadrature). Then there is only an ASK demodulator and the two flows of data are merged back.

In practice, there is an unknown phase delay between the transmitter and receiver that must be compensated by synchronization of the receivers local oscillator, i.e. the sine and cosine functions in the above figure. In mobile applications, there will often be an offset in the relative frequency as well, due to the possible presence of a Doppler shift proportional to the relative velocity of the transmitter and receiver. Both the phase and frequency variations introduced by the channel must be compensated by properly tuning the sine and cosine components, which requires a phase reference, and is typically accomplished using a Phase-Locked Loop (PLL).

In any application, the low-pass filter will be within h_r (t): here it was shown just to be clearer.

Quantized QAM performance[link]

The following definitions are needed in determining error rates:

• Failed to parse (Missing texvc executable; please see math/README to configure.): M

= Number of symbols in modulation constellation

• Failed to parse (Missing texvc executable; please see math/README to configure.): E_b

= Energy-per-bit

• Failed to parse (Missing texvc executable; please see math/README to configure.): E_s

= Energy-per-symbol = Failed to parse (Missing texvc executable; please see math/README to configure.): kE_b
with k bits per symbol

• Failed to parse (Missing texvc executable; please see math/README to configure.): N_0

= Noise power spectral density (W/Hz)

• Failed to parse (Missing texvc executable; please see math/README to configure.): P_b

= Probability of bit-error

• Failed to parse (Missing texvc executable; please see math/README to configure.): P_{bc}

= Probability of bit-error per carrier

• Failed to parse (Missing texvc executable; please see math/README to configure.): P_s

= Probability of symbol-error

• Failed to parse (Missing texvc executable; please see math/README to configure.): P_{sc}

= Probability of symbol-error per carrier

• Failed to parse (Missing texvc executable; please see math/README to configure.): Q(x) = \frac{1}{\sqrt{2\pi}}\int_{x}^{\infty}e^{-t^{2}/2}dt,\ x\geq{}0

.

Failed to parse (Missing texvc executable; please see math/README to configure.): Q(x)

is related to the complementary Gaussian error function by:

Failed to parse (Missing texvc executable; please see math/README to configure.): Q(x) = \frac{1}{2}\operatorname{erfc}\left(\frac{x}{\sqrt{2}}\right) , which is the probability that x will be under the tail of the Gaussian PDF towards positive infinity.

The error rates quoted here are those in additive white Gaussian noise (AWGN).

Where coordinates for constellation points are given in this article, note that they represent a non-normalised constellation. That is, if a particular mean average energy were required (e.g. unit average energy), the constellation would need to be linearly scaled.

Rectangular QAM[link]

Constellation diagram for rectangular 16-QAM.

Rectangular QAM constellations are, in general, sub-optimal in the sense that they do not maximally space the constellation points for a given energy. However, they have the considerable advantage that they may be easily transmitted as two pulse amplitude modulation (PAM) signals on quadrature carriers, and can be easily demodulated. The non-square constellations, dealt with below, achieve marginally better bit-error rate (BER) but are harder to modulate and demodulate.

The first rectangular QAM constellation usually encountered is 16-QAM, the constellation diagram for which is shown here. A Gray coded bit-assignment is also given. The reason that 16-QAM is usually the first is that a brief consideration reveals that 2-QAM and 4-QAM are in fact binary phase-shift keying (BPSK) and quadrature phase-shift keying (QPSK), respectively. Also, the error-rate performance of 8-QAM is close to that of 16-QAM (only about 0.5 dB better^{[citation needed]}), but its data rate is only three-quarters that of 16-QAM.

Expressions for the symbol-error rate of rectangular QAM are not hard to derive but yield rather unpleasant expressions. For an even number of bits per symbol, Failed to parse (Missing texvc executable; please see math/README to configure.): k , exact expressions are available. They are most easily expressed in a per carrier sense:

Failed to parse (Missing texvc executable; please see math/README to configure.): P_{sc} = 2\left(1 - \frac{1}{\sqrt M}\right)Q\left(\sqrt{\frac{3}{M-1}\frac{E_s}{N_0}}\right)

, so

Failed to parse (Missing texvc executable; please see math/README to configure.): \,P_s = 1 - \left(1 - P_{sc}\right)^2

.

The bit-error rate depends on the bit to symbol mapping, but for Failed to parse (Missing texvc executable; please see math/README to configure.): E_b/N_0 \gg 1

and a Gray-coded assignment—so that we can assume each symbol error causes only one bit error—the bit-error rate is approximately

Failed to parse (Missing texvc executable; please see math/README to configure.): P_{bc} \approx P_{sc}/(k/2) = \frac{4}{k}\left(1 - \frac{1}{\sqrt M}\right)Q\left(\sqrt{\frac{3k}{M-1}\frac{E_b}{N_0}}\right)

. Since the carriers are independent, the overall bit error rate is the same as the per-carrier error rate, just like BPSK and QPSK.

Failed to parse (Missing texvc executable; please see math/README to configure.): \,P_b = P_{bc}

.

[edit] Odd-k QAM

For odd Failed to parse (Missing texvc executable; please see math/README to configure.): k , such as 8-QAM (Failed to parse (Missing texvc executable; please see math/README to configure.): k=3 ) it is harder to obtain symbol-error rates, but a tight upper bound is:

Failed to parse (Missing texvc executable; please see math/README to configure.): P_s \leq{} 4Q\left(\sqrt{\frac{3kE_b}{(M-1)N_0}}\;\right)

. Two rectangular 8-QAM constellations are shown below without bit assignments. These both have the same minimum distance between symbol points, and thus the same symbol-error rate (to a first approximation).

The exact bit-error rate, Failed to parse (Missing texvc executable; please see math/README to configure.): P_b

will depend on the bit-assignment.

Note that both of these constellations are seldom used in practice, as the non-rectangular version of 8-QAM is optimal. Example of second constellation's usage: LDPC and 8-QAM.

• Rectangular 8QAM.png

  Constellation diagram for rectangular 8-QAM.

• 

  Alternative constellation diagram for rectangular 8-QAM.

Non-rectangular QAM[link]

Constellation diagram for circular 8-QAM.

Constellation diagram for circular 16-QAM.

It is the nature of QAM that most orders of constellations can be constructed in many different ways and it is neither possible nor instructive to cover them all here. This article instead presents two, lower-order constellations.

Two diagrams of circular QAM constellation are shown, for 8-QAM and 16-QAM. The circular 8-QAM constellation is known to be the optimal 8-QAM constellation in the sense of requiring the least mean power for a given minimum Euclidean distance. The 16-QAM constellation is suboptimal although the optimal one may be constructed along the same lines as the 8-QAM constellation. The circular constellation highlights the relationship between QAM and PSK. Other orders of constellation may be constructed along similar (or very different) lines. It is consequently hard to establish expressions for the error rates of non-rectangular QAM since it necessarily depends on the constellation. Nevertheless, an obvious upper bound to the rate is related to the minimum Euclidean distance of the constellation (the shortest straight-line distance between two points):

Failed to parse (Missing texvc executable; please see math/README to configure.): P_s < (M-1)Q\left(\sqrt{d_{min}^{2}/2N_0}\right)

.

Again, the bit-error rate will depend on the assignment of bits to symbols.

Although, in general, there is a non-rectangular constellation that is optimal for a particular Failed to parse (Missing texvc executable; please see math/README to configure.): M , they are not often used since the rectangular QAMs are much easier to modulate and demodulate.

Interference and noise[link]

In moving to a higher order QAM constellation (higher data rate and mode) in hostile RF/microwave QAM application environments, such as in broadcasting or telecommunications, multipath interference typically increases. There is a spreading of the spots in the constellation, decreasing the separation between adjacent states, making it difficult for the receiver to decode the signal appropriately. In other words, there is reduced noise immunity. There are several test parameter measurements which help determine an optimal QAM mode for a specific operating environment. The following three are most significant:^[3]

• Carrier/interference ratio
• Carrier-to-noise ratio
• Threshold-to-noise ratio

See also[link]

• Modulation for other examples of modulation techniques
• Phase-shift keying
• Amplitude and phase-shift keying or Asymmetric phase-shift keying (APSK)
• Carrierless Amplitude Phase Modulation (CAP)
• Random modulation
• QAM tuner for HDTV

References[link]

The notation used here has mainly (but not exclusively) been taken from

• John G. Proakis, "Digital Communications, 3rd Edition",

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Quadrature amplitude modulation

• How imperfections affect QAM constellation^{[dead link]}
• Microwave Phase Shifters Overview by Herley General Microwave
• QAM Baseband Modem - EPN-online.co.uk

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Herbie Hancock
Hancock in concert at the Nice Jazz Festival 2010
Background information
Birth name	Herbert Jeffrey Hancock
Also known as	Herbie Hancock
Born	(1940-04-12) April 12, 1940 (age 72) Chicago, Illinois, United States
Genres	Jazz, bebop, post bop, jazz fusion, hard bop, jazz-funk, funk, R&B, electro funk, classical
Occupations	Musician, composer, bandleader
Instruments	Piano, synthesizer, organ, clavinet, keytar, vocoder
Years active	1961–present
Labels	Columbia, Blue Note, Verve, Warner Bros.
Associated acts	Miles Davis Quintet, Jaco Pastorius, Joni Mitchell, Stevie Wonder
Website	www.herbiehancock.com

Herbert Jeffrey "Herbie" Hancock (born April 12, 1940) is an American pianist, keyboardist, bandleader and composer.^[1] As part of Miles Davis's Second Great Quintet, Hancock helped to redefine the role of a jazz rhythm section and was one of the primary architects of the "post-bop" sound. He was one of the first jazz musicians to embrace music synthesizers and funk music (characterized by syncopated drum beats). Hancock's music is often melodic and accessible; he has had many songs "cross over" and achieved success among pop audiences. His music embraces elements of funk and soul while adopting freer stylistic elements from jazz. In his jazz improvisation, he possesses a unique creative blend of jazz, blues, and modern classical music, with harmonic stylings much like the styles of Claude Debussy and Maurice Ravel.

Hancock's best-known solo works include "Cantaloupe Island", "Watermelon Man" (later performed by dozens of musicians, including bandleader Mongo Santamaría), "Maiden Voyage", "Chameleon", and the singles "I Thought It Was You" and "Rockit". His 2007 tribute album River: The Joni Letters won the 2008 Grammy Award for Album of the Year, only the second jazz album ever to win the award after Getz/Gilberto in 1965.

Hancock is a member of Sōka Gakkai International.^[2][3]

On July 22, 2011 at a ceremony in Paris, Hancock was named UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador for the promotion of Intercultural Dialogue.

Early life and career[link]

Hancock was born in Chicago, Illinois. Like many jazz pianists, Hancock started with a classical music education. He studied from age seven, and his talent was recognized early. Considered a child prodigy,^[4] he played the first movement of Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 5 at a young people's concert with the Chicago Symphony at age eleven.^[5]

Through his teens, Hancock never had a jazz teacher, but developed his ear and sense of harmony. He was also influenced by records of the vocal group the Hi-Lo's. He reported that:

the time I actually heard the Hi-Lo's, I started picking that stuff out; my ear was happening. I could hear stuff and that's when I really learned some much farther-out voicings -like the harmonies I used on 'Speak Like a Child' -just being able to do that. I really got that from Clare Fischer's arrangements for the Hi-Lo's. Clare Fischer was a major influence on my harmonic concept... He and Bill Evans, and Ravel and Gil Evans, finally. You know, that's where it came from.^[6]

In 1960, he heard Chris Anderson play just once, and begged him to accept him as a student.^[7] Hancock often mentions Anderson as his harmonic guru. Hancock left Grinnell College, moved to Chicago and began working with Donald Byrd and Coleman Hawkins, during which period he also took courses at Roosevelt University. (He later graduated from Grinnell with degrees in electrical engineering and music. Grinnell also awarded him an honorary Doctor of Fine Arts degree in 1972).^[5][8] Donald Byrd was attending the Manhattan School of Music in New York at the time and suggested that Hancock study composition with Vittorio Giannini, which he did for a short time in 1960. The pianist quickly earned a reputation, and played subsequent sessions with Oliver Nelson and Phil Woods. He recorded his first solo album Takin' Off for Blue Note Records in 1962. "Watermelon Man" (from Takin' Off) was to provide Mongo Santamaría with a hit single, but more importantly for Hancock, Takin' Off caught the attention of Miles Davis, who was at that time assembling a new band. Hancock was introduced to Davis by the young drummer Tony Williams, a member of the new band.

Miles Davis quintet and Blue Note[link]

Hancock received considerable attention when, in May 1963,^[5] he joined Miles Davis's Second Great Quintet. 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 Davis's 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 "Chihuahua" 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.

[edit] Fat Albert and Mwandishi

Hancock playing a Roland AX-7 keytar, at The Roundhouse, Camden, London, 2006

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.^{[citation needed]}

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 2006–7 a remastered edition of Crossings was announced and scheduled for release in the Spring.

[edit] Headhunters and Death Wish

Hancock performing in concert, 2006

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.^{[citation needed]} 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 among 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."^[9]

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, he 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.

[edit] Back to the basics: VSOP and 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 VSOP: The Quintet (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), VSOP: Tempest in the Colosseum (1977), and Direct Step (1978). Live Under the Sky 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 including Tony Williams and Jaco Pastorius on the last track) (1978). Singing through a vocoder, he earned a British hit,^[10] "I Thought It Was You", although critics were unimpressed.^[11] 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".^[10] 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 contained 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 while 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 affectionately 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 and reached No.8 in the UK.^[12] The video won five 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 1980s are the live album Jazz Africa and the studio album Village Life (1984), which were recorded with Gambian kora player Foday Musa Suso.^[13] Also, in 1985 Hancock performed as a guest on the album So Red The Rose by the Duran Duran offshoot 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, Rockschool (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[link]

Hancock live in concert

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, he appeared on the Red Hot Organization's compilation album Stolen Moments: Red Hot + Cool. 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 Hancock 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 entitled 1 + 1 was successful, the song "Aung San Suu Kyi" winning the Grammy Award for Best Instrumental Composition. Hancock also achieved great success in 1998 with his album Gershwin's World, which featured inventive readings of George and 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 entitled Directions in Music: Live at Massey Hall, recorded live in Toronto. The threesome toured to support the album, and toured on and off through 2005.

The year 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 Headhunters 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-onlyThe 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) entitled "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, River: The Joni Letters, that paid tribute to her work. Norah Jones and Tina Turner recorded vocals,^[14] 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.^[15] "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.^[16]

On January 18, 2009, Hancock performed at the We Are One concert, marking the start of inaugural celebrations for American President Barack Obama.^[17] 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.^[18] 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.^[19]

Discography[link]

Filmography[link]

As a Leader[link]

• 2000: Dejohnette, Hancock, Holland and Metheny – Live in Concert
• 2002: Herbie Hancock Trio: Hurricane! with Ron Carter and Billy Cobham^[20]
• 2002: The Jazz Channel Presents Herbie Hancock (BET on Jazz) with Cyro Baptista, Terri Lynne Carrington, Ira Coleman, Eli Degibri and Eddie Henderson (recorded in 2000)
• 2004: Herbie Hancock – Future2Future Live
• 2006: Herbie Hancock – Possibilities with John Mayer, Christina Aguilera, Joss Stone, and more

Awards[link]

Academy Awards[link]

• 1986, Original Soundtrack, for Round Midnight

Grammy Awards[link]

1. 1984, Best R&B Instrumental Performance, for Rockit
2. 1985, Best R&B Instrumental Performance, for Sound-System
3. 1988, Best Instrumental Composition, for Call Sheet Blues
4. 1995, Best Jazz Instrumental Performance, Individual Or Group, for A Tribute to Miles
5. 1997, Best Instrumental Composition, for Manhattan (Island Of Lights And Love)
6. 1999, Best Instrumental Arrangement Accompanying Vocal(s), for St. Louis Blues
7. 1999, Best Jazz Instrumental Performance, Individual Or Group, for Gershwin's World
8. 2003, Best Jazz Instrumental Album, Individual or Group, for Directions in Music: Live at Massey Hall
9. 2003, Best Jazz Instrumental Solo, for My Ship
10. 2005, Best Jazz Instrumental Solo, for Speak Like a Child
11. 2008, Album of the Year, for River: The Joni Letters
12. 2008, Best Contemporary Jazz Album, for River: The Joni Letters
13. 2011, Best Improvised Jazz Solo, for A Change Is Gonna Come
14. 2011, Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals, for Imagine

Playboy Music Poll[link]

• 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[link]

• Best Jazz & Pop Keyboardist, 1983
• Best Jazz Pianist, 1987
• Best Jazz Keyboardist, 1987
• Best Jazz Pianist, 1988

Other notable awards[link]

• 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
• Miles Davis Award, granted by the Montreal International Jazz Festival, 1997
• 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

^[21]

References[link]