Herbie Hancock

Herbie Hancock, a pianist, bandleader and composer from Chicago, born in 1940, came up the proper jazz way, first in trumpeter Donald Byrd's group and then in the Miles Davis Quintet, where he helped tear up the old rules for what a rhythm section was supposed to do and became one of the chief builders of post-bop. His own tunes turned into jazz standards that other players keep coming back to: "Watermelon Man", "Cantaloupe Island", "Maiden Voyage".

Then the '70s hit and Hancock plugged in. He went after funk, fusion and electro with a whole rack of synthesizers and electric keyboards, and Head Hunters, in 1973, is the payoff: "Chameleon" rides a fat, squelching bass groove that sounds less like a jazz record than a block party, and the album around it became one of the most influential he ever made.

He never sat still after that. The 1980s brought "Rockit", an electronic instrumental hit made with bassist and producer Bill Laswell, a string of MTV Video Music Awards in 1984, and an Academy Award for Best Original Score in 1987. He has won 14 Grammys in all, including Album of the Year for River: The Joni Letters, his 2007 tribute to his friend Joni Mitchell, and the Polar Music Prize in 2025. Since 2012 he has taught at UCLA.

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