Herbie Hancock

Pianist and composer Herbert "Herbie" Jeffrey Hancock (Chicago, 1940) is regarded as an icon of modern music. Across his long and eclectic career, he has distinguished himself by tackling a range of musical genres, from jazz to fusion to funk.

Hancock began playing in 1961 with Donald Byrd and his group, until he was noticed by Blue Note Records, which offered him a solo contract and released his debut album: "Takin' Off" (1962).

In 1963 Miles Davis brought him into his band, in time for the "Seven Steps To Heaven" sessions. Hancock stayed with Davis for five years, absorbing his influence and switching over to electric piano. Then, in 1968, he left Davis's group and recorded an elegant funk album: "Fat Albert Rotunda". In 1969 he founded a sextet whose first project was the album "The Prisoner" (1970), and he began delving into electronic instruments, moving firmly into funk territory. One of the most significant albums of this period is certainly "Head Hunters" (1973), which features the widely acclaimed single "Chameleon".

The following years saw Herbie continue down the funk path, until in the 80's he also began following electronic sounds, producing albums such as “Perfect Machine” (1988) and “Future Shock” (1983), which contained the single “Rockit”, awarded a Grammy for best performance of the year.

The late Nineties and early 2000s were for Herbie Hancock a period of experimentation and prolific output, yielding albums such as “The New Standards” (1995), “Future2Future” (2001) and “Directions In Music” (2002).

In 2005 he released “Possibilities”, which includes collaborations with Christina Aguilera and John Mayer, followed in 2007 by his contribution alongside Quincy Jones on the track “The Good, The Bad and The Ugly” on the tribute album “We All Love Ennio Morricone“.

2008 was finally the year of “River: The Joni Letters”, dedicated to his friend, singer-songwriter Joni Mitchell, and awarded a Grammy for best album, while in 2010 Hancock released his most recent solo album, “The Imagine Project”.