I was thinking about Herbie Hancock today, because he’s coming back to his hometown of Chicago to play with the CSO on October 21st, and I think I need to go and see him. He is one of our true musical geniuses.
Herbie first played with the CSO at the age of 11. He recorded his first record, Takin’ Off, at the age of 21, which caught the attention of Miles Davis. Herbie joined Miles Davis’ second quintet in 1963.
Meanwhile, Herbie recorded his own influential jazz albums, and played sideman for other musicians. In 1966, he was asked to score a movie, Michelangelo Antonioni’s The Blow-Up. This song, “Bringing Down the Birds” is from the soundtrack.
Many of my peers will remember Herbie Hancock for his biggest hit, “Rockit.” The cool robot video was in heavy rotation on MTV and it was maybe the first time many of us heard scratching on popular radio. Many of you will recognize this song from the Dee-Lite hit “Groove Is In The Heart,” which sampled it. And you’ve heard countless other songs he’s written; he’s been sampled by damn near everyone.
So go back and give a couple of Herbie Hancock albums a spin. His work is always cool, funky, and way ahead of its time.