Artist:Herbie Hancock
Song:One Finger Snap
Album:The Best of Herbie Hancock: The Blue Note Years
This is another one of my Jazz for Beginners series. The only requirements are a live performance video and a CD appropriate for beginners. Of course pianist Herbie Hancock is one of the all time jazz greats. The problem is he has been around since the 60s and done so many different kinds of music that it's impossible to cover his entire career in this post. So I'm concentrating on his early days when he recorded for Blue Note and was in the Miles Davis band. He was born Apr. 12, 1940 in Chicago. His parents were obviously music fans because they named him after singer and actor Herb Jeffries. Hancock studied piano as a child and at age 11, he performed with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. He got into jazz as a teen. Major influences include Hi-Lo's arranger Clare Fischer, Bill Evans, Gil Evans and blind pianist Chris Anderson. Hancock graduated from Grinnell College in Iowa with degrees in electrical engineering and music. He moved back to Chicago and played with Donald Byrd and Coleman Hawkins while taking courses at Roosevelt University. Hancock signed with Blue Note and released his 1962 debut album Takin' Off. At the time, Miles Davis was assembling a new band and drummer Tony Williams brought the album to Davis. Hancock joined the Davis band in 1963 with Williams on drums and Ron Carter on bass. Davis was trying out saxophonists like George Coleman and Sam Rivers, But he really wanted Wayne Shorter and got him in 1964. Meanwhile, Hancock was recording as a leader for Blue Note and appearing on albums by other Blue Note artists like Kenny Dorham, Grant Green and Hank Mobley. One Finger Snap is from the 1964 album Empyrean Isles. This was Hancock's fourth album for Blue Note. The band is the Davis band of Ron Carter on bass and Tony Williams on drums with Freddie Hubbard substituting for Davis on cornet. So it's almost like they are practicing for working with Davis. You can get One Finger Snap on this budget comp. The success of the Davis band paralleled Hancock's solo career and really prepared him for when the Davis band ended in 1968. Hancock composed the score for the 1966 film Blow-Up. And he composed jingles for ad agencies. As an electrical engineer, Hancock has always been fascinated with gadgets and new technology which he would soon incorporate into his music. He started playing electric keyboards while in the Davis band. So those two were headed in the same direction. But instead he lied to Davis about being on his honeymoon in 1968 when Hancock was starting his own band. Davis was ending the band anyway and would soon invent jazz rock fusion on albums like Bitches Brew. But as we would find out in the 70s, Herbie Hancock was a trailblazer too. Here's Herbie Hancock with Jeff Littleton on bass and Gene Jackson on drums performing One Finger Snap at the Montreux Jazz Festival 1994.
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