Jazz Music example essay topic

Spanning the worlds of jazz and contemporary rock and pop, Herbie Hancock was, and still is a very influential pianist in jazz today. He has made several jazz albums, in his 1960's relationship with Blue Note, defined jazz funk with his Head Hunters band of the 1970's, and topped the pop charts with Rockit in the 1980's. He was born on April 12, 1940 in Chicago. He was a child prodigy and began studying classical piano at the age of seven. At 11, he performed the first movement of a Mozart concerto with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. In high school, he moved to jazz, where he formed his own ensemble.

By the time he had graduated college, he had worked in Chicago jazz clubs with such famous players as Donald Byrd and Coleman Hawkins. Hancock joined Byrd's quintet and moved to New York. During this time, Hancock was beginning to develop his unique style - a lyrical style that blends gospel, bebop, and blues. While recording with Byrd, he was offered a contract as a leader with Blue Note Records. He recorded his first record in May of 1962. His song "Watermelon Man" from that record became a hit.

After playing five years with Davis, he left and formed a sextet that merged many different styles, such as jazz, rock, and African and Indian influences, but with an electric sound. Soon after that he disbanded the sextet because of limited financial success, though they were an artistic success. In 1973, he formed The Headhunters, a group that merged funk, rock, and instrumental pop. They scored a very successful crossover with the album Headhunters. Afterward, he started playing more pop music, although he did a series of acoustic concerts with Chick Corea. During this time, he underwent heavy criticism for "selling out", and Hancock repeatedly defended his right to play other kinds of music.

During the 1980's, Hancock alternated between electric and acoustic music. He scored another big hit in 1983 with the song "Rockit", which made use of hip-hop (well ahead of its time) and heavy scratching. He received much airplay on MTV with his video. He spent the next two years performing traditional jazz music and won an Oscar for his score in the film Round Midnight.

Miles Davis said in his autobiography: "Herbie was the step after Bud Powell and Thelonious Monk, and I haven't heard anybody yet who has come after him". By mid-decade, Hancock was playing to stadium-sized crowds all over the world, and had no fewer than four albums in the pop charts at once. In total, Herbie had eleven albums in the pop charts during the 1970's. Hancock's style has changed in form over the decades but still has remained true to the roots of jazz. He has been criticized for his change in style, sometimes even being called a "sellout". But always he has defended his right to be an individual.

By experimenting with different sounds he has incorporated the changing times into his music. Not content to travel one creative path, Hancock also stayed close to his acoustic jazz heart in the 70's. He recorded and performed with VSO P (a reunification of the 60's Miles Davis Quintet, substituting Freddie Hubbard for Davis), with various trios and quartets under his own name, and in duet settings with fellow pianists Chick Corea and Oscar Peterson. I think that Hancock was influenced by the world that he lived in and that helped to shape his music. In the song "Rockit" he mixes hip-hop roots into the rhythm of his music going to a place were few other jazz musician were daring to venture into. He was getting in touch with a form of music that was apart of the younger generation which was quite an accomplishment for someone who started playing in the early 60's.

Even before he started to delve into the hip-hop era he was revolutionizing jazz music. With his album Headhunters he experimented with a fusion of rock, electric, and funk music that was so partial to the sound of the 80's. It seems that with each era Hancock has taken a piece of the sound of the time and incorporated that into his own music creating something wholly innovative but still true to his own unique sound.