He skipped two grades, an academic feat that was fostered by his parents ’ promotion of discipline and that he would later say helped forge his identity as a high achiever. Instead of playing sports and running about with his schoolmates in the back alleys of Chicago, the studious seven-year-old preferred to stay home learning piano and nurturing a fascination with science and electronics. This ecstasy was finally put to use when his parents bought an old upright piano for 25 dollars. And as a toddler, he would respond ecstatically when a piano was near. When Herbie was a baby, his parents discovered that he would stop crying when music was played. Herbert Jeffrey Hancock was born in Chicago, Illinois, on April 12, 1940, to Wayman Hancock, a grocery store clerk and future federal meat inspector, and Winnie Griffin Hancock, a secretary in whom a love of music and appreciation for education had been instilled as a young child. But only by straddling so many styles and interests can Hancock tap his copious talent for versatility and allow his moods and feelings to find their truest expression in music. In playing acoustic bebop jazz as well as electronic fusion, in composing sweeping film scores alongside playful advertising jingles, Hancock knowingly risks disappointing those camps that wish to claim him as their darling. But with Hancock, the transformations are not designed for camouflage and self-defense rather they are the outgrowth of a mind that resists stagnation and harbors a deep love of all music -a love that would be compromised if it were hostage to a particular style of song. Virtuoso pianist Herbie Hancock is, in a sense, a musical chameleon whose compositions and recordings change direction as unceremoniously and effortlessly as the lizard ’s skin changes color.
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