Herbie Hancock is a name that should be familiar even to you jazz haters. Like last week’s subject Hugh Masekela, Herbie Hancock crossed over into other genres and even landed a track or two on the pop charts. In the ’80s his funky synth-pop “Rockit” even showed up on MTV back when MTV still played music videos. The tune is catchy but nfortunately the video is a creepy—nay, nightmarish—dance of dismembered robot/puppet parts that can’t be unseen.
I mean, what the hell is going on with that one in the bed anyway?
At 77, Hancock has been part of the music industry seemingly forever. He was a musical phenom as a child focusing on classical piano but recorded his first album Takin’ Off for Blue Note Records in 1962. Takin’ Off caught the attention of inimitable Miles Davis and Hancock became a member of the Miles Davis Quintet from ’63 to ’68. That was the beginning of a career that produced more than 40 albums and more than a dozen Grammys and an Oscar (for the soundtrack to the Dexter Gordon biopic ‘Round Midnight).
Hancock composed and performed music for many films, including the soundtrack to the original Death Wish starring Charles Bronson.
As will be our practice here at Jazz for Nonbelievers, this week’s playlist is handpicked so that at least some of the tunes will appeal to those who for whatever reason routinely say that the hate jazz.
- A Tale of Revenge That May Have Inspired The Statue of Liberty - February 6, 2019
- Tom McGuire & the Brassholes’ Debut Album Body-Slams You With Glaswegian Soul - February 1, 2019
- Monday Mop Up: Explosive West Coast Funk from ORGŌNE, Irish Country, Cannibal Rockers, and some Wunderkinds - January 28, 2019
