Herbie Hancock - Spectrasonics

SATURDAY JUNE 22,8 p.m.
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FESTIVAL
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Herbie Hancock, piano
and synthesizers
Herbie Hancock
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Long before the term "early adopter"
came into common parlance, pianist/
keyboardist and composer Herbie
Hancock was known for seeking out
the latest innovations. A devoted
technophile since his childhood in
Chicago, he was one of the first jazz
musicians to embrace synthesizers (on
his 1973 hit album Head Hunters), and
encouraged his colleagues to start
checking out personal computers after
acquiring an Apple ll in 1977. His love
of new technologies isn't confined to
the bandstand and recording studio:
He recently bought a Tesla S (among
sports car aficionados Hancock is
renowned as the longest original
owner of an AC Cobra, a car he
purchased from the showroom with
the first royalty check for his 1962 hit
"Watermelon Man").
"The Telsa's got the speed and
performance, and it's great for the
environment," Hancock says from his
office in Los Angeles. "lt's right on the
cutting edge, and that's where I like to
be, pushing toward the future."
For his Stanford Jazz Festival debut,
Hancock is going to be introducing
some of his latest experiments.
Though this is ostensibly a solo
recital, he'll hardly be alone on stage.
ln addition to a Fazioli grand piano,
he has been honing new, customdesigned software designed to pare
down his electronic aear, which has
gotten unruly with five iPads. He's
been working with sound designer
Eric Persing and programmer
Andrew Pask to streamline his gear
and "to personalize some software,
making it possible for me to access
Omnisphere through my personal
interface," Hancock says, referring
to the potent "virtual synthesizer"
program by Spectrasonics.
"For this concert, we are working on
some special things utilizing surround
sound," Hancock says. "Some things
are still up in the air, but hopefully
it's a precursor to some future
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sophomore year he had changed his
major and dedicated himself to music.
Hancock made his recording debut
at 21 with trumpeter Donald Byrd
on the 1961 Blue Note album Royal
Flush, and before long he signed on
with jazz's leading independent label,'
recording his hugely successful record
Takin' Off. While Hancock continued
to record prolifically for Blue Note as a
sideman and a leader throughout the
decade, in 1963 Miles Davis recruited
him for his quintet, which became one
of the most influential small bands
in jazz history with the addition of
Wayne Shorter. When Davis started
making the transition to {usion the late
1960s with Filles de Kilimanjaro and
ln A Silent Way, Hancock's facility on
electric piano proved crucial for the
trumpeter's evolving sou nd.
developments."
He pursued his own sonic experiments
Born and raised in Chicago, Hancock
as a bandleader in the early 1970s,
was something of a prodigy. He
performed with the Chicago
Symphony at 1 (one of Mozart's
'1
piano concertos), and by high school,
jazzhad caught his ear. He entered
Grinnell College at '16 as an electrical
engineering major, but by his
recording a series of classic albums
with Mwandishi, a band largely based
in the Bay Area. After assimilating Sly
Stone's funk, he changed courses with
Headhunters, a band that combined
his pioneering synth work on the Arp
String Ensemble with the East Bay
grease of bassist Paul Jackson and
drummer Mike Clark and the world
percussion of Bill Summers (who
went on to co-{ound Los Hombres
Ca
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ientes). Moving effortlessly
between progressive R&B, fusion, and
acoustic post-bop settings, Hancock
has earned numerous Grammy
Awards while continuing to pursue
his passion for breaking in new
inventions.
Hailing from a family of engineers
and artists, he grew up obsessed
with science and technology. While
encouraged in his investigations, his
curiosity sometimes got him into hot
water at home when he "took apart
clocks and watches or my electric
trains," Hancock recalls. "l couldn't
always put them back and that's when
my father got mad at me. l'm the first
guy to get whatever the new thing is.
It's part of my DNA. My older brother
worked for lBM, back in the day when
they had punch cards, and my sister
was also in data processing. She and
two other women helped design
the ATM. Tech is part of what we
Hancocks do."
As a composer, Hancock has written
nearly a dozen bona fide jazz
standards, including "Butterfly,"
"Dolphin Dance," "Eye of the
Hurricane," and the oft-sampled
"Cantaloupe lsland." ln recent years
he's performed mostly in the context
of his band with guitarist Lionel
Loueke. drummer Vinnie Colaiuta, and
bassist James Genus, but he has also
taken advantage of the opportunities
provided by solo recitals to integrate
new instruments and software. ln
addition to his piano and synth, he
wields a keytar, a a keyboard worn like
a guital and an iPad. The techology
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doesn't get
in the way of
connecting with an
audience, as Hancock is a master
at contructing a set for maximum
drama.
"There is a general flow that I think
about," Hancock says. "Usually I like
to start with something dynamic,
and for solo shows it's usually a
piece I recorded as a duo with
Wayne Shorter that l've had partly
orchestrated with the synth. Then
I play something that's on acoustic
pianq. Then I move on to something
more rhythmic that uses a rhythm
track I build live in front of the
audience. One or two pieces may be
tunes I make up right then. And l'll
end up with some other pieces that
my fans would want to hear. l've got
lots of freedom."
LEARN ABOUT I{ER8JE HANCOCK
herbiehancock.com
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All ages welcome.
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