Herbie Hancock
Biography
Herbert Jeffrey Hancock (born April 12, 1940) is an American pianist, bandleader and composer. As part of Miles Davis's "second great quintet", Hancock helped redefine the role of a jazz rhythm section, and was one of the primary architects of the "post-bop" sound. He was one of the first jazz musicians to embrace synthesizers and funk. Hancock's music is often melodic and accessible; he has had many songs "cross over" and achieved success among pop audiences. His music embraces elements of funk and soul while adopting freer stylistic elements from jazz. In his jazz improvisation, he possesses a unique creative blend of jazz, blues, and modern classical music, with harmonic stylings much like the styles of Claude Debussy and Maurice Ravel. Hancock's best-known solo works include "Cantaloupe Island", "Watermelon Man" (later performed by dozens of musicians, including bandleader Mongo Santamaría), "Maiden Voyage", "Chameleon", and the singles "I Thought It Was You" and "Rockit". His 2007 tribute album River: The Joni Letters won the 2008 Grammy Award for Album of the Year, only the second jazz album ever to win the award after Getz/Gilberto in 1965.
As a member of Soka Gakkai, Hancock is an adherent of the Nichiren school of Mahayana Buddhism.
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Full filmography
- The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon (2014) as Self
- The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson (1962) as Self
- Saturday Night Live (1975) as Self - Musical Guest
- Tuner (2026) as Herbie Hancock
- Great Performances (1971) as Self
- The Ellen DeGeneres Show (2003) as Self
- The Tonight Show with Jay Leno (1992)
- Girl Meets World (2014) as Self
- Kulturzeit (1995) as self
- Classic Albums (1997) as Self
- Jay Leno's Garage (2015) as Self
- Indecent Proposal (1993) as Himself
- Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets (2017) as Defence Minister
- ECHO-Verleihung (1992) as Self
- Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve with Ryan Seacrest (1972) as Self
- StarTalk with Neil deGrasse Tyson (2015) as Self
- Rock Concert (1973) as Self
- By Whatever Means Necessary: The Times of Godfather of Harlem (2020) as Self
- 'Round Midnight (1986) as Eddie Wayne
- Miles Ahead (2016) as Live Concert Band
- A Man's Story (2011) as Self
- That Click (2019) as Self
- We Are One: The Obama Inaugural Celebration at the Lincoln Memorial (2009) as Self
- Miles Davis: Birth of the Cool (2019) as Self - Musician