Herbie Hancock

Miles away, but getting closer every day...

I saw Herbie Hancock a couple of months ago at the State Theatre in Minneapolis.

Even if it was not without flaws, it was a powerhouse event - not perfection, but it was perfect.

While standing in line before the show I met a couple of ladies. I asked them if this was the first time they’d seen Hancock perform. One told me, “I’ve seen him many times. The first was way back in 1976 at the Interlochen Music School in Traverse City, Michigan.” She went on to tell me that when he played Chameleon she got up and started dancing, but… “they kicked me out for being too rowdy.” Rowdy - that was a word I hadn’t heard in a while. A little later while walking down the aisle looking for my seat, I saw her again and she told me, “Sit with us. You’ll have more fun.” I was at the show with my buddy Steve (no offense to you Steve), but she was probably right.

I ended up sitting next to a young guy, who messed around with his phone for the first two songs. The couple on the other side asked him to put it away, but he paid them no mind. After settling in, he appeared to dig the show.

I liked the concert a lot, but it took me a little by surprise. Terence Blanchard was brilliant in support of this nearly total funk affair - no nods to pre-Head Hunters stuff. It was deliberate and pointed at newer audiences, meeting them on their level. Even though he was playing stuff from my generation, it wasn’t for me, if you know what I mean. It was for a younger audience - like the guy next to me. That said, I suspect someday soon Hancock will move further back in time to his earlier acoustic stuff. We’ll have to wait and see…

This week on that Big River called Jazz, we’ll explore the early years of Herbie Hancock.

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Herbie Hancock was born in Chicago in 1940. He was a child prodigy, performing Mozart Piano Concertos with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra at 11 years old. He graduated from Grinnell College in Iowa in 1960 with degrees in electrical engineering and music. After graduating, he moved back to Chicago and was discovered by Donald Byrd. He became Byrd’s protégé. Hancock followed Byrd to New York City and made his debut on Byrd’s 1961 Royal Flush, recorded for Blue Note on September 21, 1961:

He even contributed a composition, Requiem:

This is arguably the album’s best track. I dig Hancock’s solo and Butch Warren’s fine arco bass.

Hancock credits Byrd as a key influence in his early career, recounting that Byrd took him "under his wing" when he was a struggling musician newly arrived in New York. For several years, he even let Hancock crash on a hide-a-bed in his Bronx apartment.

Byrd’s next Blue Note recording date was two months later on December 11 at Rudy Van Gelder’s studio. It was at this session that Hancock met Wayne Shorter for the first time. Interestingly, Blue Note didn’t release the Free Form sessions until 1966, almost five years later when both Hancock and Shorter were already members of the Miles Davis Quintet.

Hancock also recalled how Byrd encouraged him to record Takin’ Off, his debut album as a leader. It was recorded and released by Blue Note in 1962:

There’s no doubt that Watermelon Man is the most famous song from this album; however, we shouldn’t let that classic overshadow other excellent and perhaps overlooked tracks. For example, I like Driftin’:

According to Tom Cotter’s 2007 article The Watermelon Man and the Cobra in Road & Track magazine, Hancock also credits Byrd with giving him one of the most important pieces of advice of his career – don’t give away your publishing rights. When Blue Note offered Hancock the chance to record his first solo LP, label executives tried to convince him to relinquish his publishing in exchange for being able to record the album, but he stuck to Byrd's advice and refused. At this point, the meeting came to an impasse and Hancock stood up to leave. When it became clear that he was about to walk out, the executives relented and allowed him to retain his publishing.

Thanks to Mongo Santamaria's subsequent 1963 hit cover of Watermelon Man, Hancock was soon receiving substantial royalties. He used his first $6000 royalty check to buy his first car, a 1963 Shelby Cobra which he still owns. It is now the oldest production Cobra in the hands of the original owner.

In an interview with Hagerty Drivers Club magazine, Hancock recalled, “I had never purchased a car before. The only car I ever drove was an old Dodge.” That was the car he had at Grinnell College. So when it came to buying a new car, Hancock recalled his dad’s advice about being wary and playing it safe. So he just planned to get a station wagon, “So I could haul my band around.” However, Byrd drove a Jaguar and talked him into checking out a Cobra. He told Hancock, “This guy Carroll Shelby is kicking Ferrari’s ass!”

Hancock’s next recording date was on Bryd’s 1964 Blue Note release A New Perspective - and yes, that is Byrd’s Jaguar on the cover:

This is an album that I guess you kind of either love or hate. I’m with the former and find it, as the title explains, an interesting new perspective.

From that album, I like Hancock’s soulful playing on Duke Pearson’s Cristo Redentor:

After Hancock’s debut Takin’ Off, Miles Davis took note and pursued him. By May 1963, Davis had convinced Hancock to join his Quintet and soon after recorded Davis’ Seven Steps to Heaven. Along with Hancock, Davis added bass player Ron Carter and 17-year-old drummer Tony Williams.

Seven Steps to Heaven was recorded on May 14, 1963, at Columbia’s 30th Street Studios in Manhattan. From that album here is the title track:

As soon as Hancock and Williams joined Davis’ Quintet, they wanted to get Wayne Shorter to join them. Finally, in September 1964, Shorter agreed and four months later they recorded Davis’ E.S.P. Here’s the title track, a Shorter composition:

With the addition of Wayne Shorter, Davis had formed his second great quintet and entered a new phase in his musical development. This quintet would stay together for the next six years.

In late 1966, between the time Hancock’s Maiden Voyage and Speak Like a Child were released, he also recorded the soundtrack to Michelangelo Antonioni’s film Blow-up:

The album featured a stellar group of musicians with Freddie Hubbard and Joe Newman on trumpet, Phil Woods on alto, Joe Henderson on tenor, Jim Hall on guitar, Ron Carter on bass, and Jack DeJohnette on drums. This is an excellent soundtrack and has Hancock playing Melodica on some tracks. His composition Bring Down the Birds is a precursor to his Headhunters sound - still seven years off (Deee-Lite also sampled this song’s bass line for their 1990 single Groove Is in The Heart). From the Blow-up soundtrack, I like this wonderfully mellow quartet number The Bed:

Here’s one more for the road. The first time I recall hearing about Herbie Hancock was in 1983 when Rockit came out and played on MTV. At that time, I had no idea he was a jazz musician. I think I finally made that connection in 1986 when I saw Bertrand Tavernier’s Round Midnight. Hancock composed the soundtrack and won the Academy Award for Best Original Score. With Hancock on piano, here’s a wonderful scene from the movie with Dexter Gordon playing Body and Soul:

The early work of Herbie Hancock is miles away from much of the work he played after leaving Miles’ Quintet in 1968 and even further away from his music from the 1980s, like Rockit. Although it still may be miles away, I think it’s getting closer every day.

Next week, on that Big River called Jazz, we’ll dig our paddles in and explore the world of Dexter Gordon.

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Until then, keep on walking….