Herbie Hancock, born in Chicago in 1940, has shaped jazz keyboard playing for six decades — from 1960s Blue Note classics and Miles Davis's Second Great Quintet to fusion, jazz-funk, and electro. Maiden Voyage (1965) and Head Hunters (1973) are the twin entry points. Dig into Herbie Hancock vinyl, CDs, and reissues at Wax Trax Records.
Herbert Jeffrey Hancock was born in Chicago, Illinois on April 12, 1940. He was a child prodigy classical pianist who pivoted to jazz in his teens. He recorded extensively for Blue Note Records across the 1960s as both leader and sideman, joining Miles Davis's Second Great Quintet from 1963 to 1968 (Sorcerer, Nefertiti, Miles in the Sky, and others). He launched his electric jazz fusion period with Mwandishi (1971) and produced the landmark jazz-funk crossover Head Hunters (1973), one of the best-selling jazz albums of all time. His Future Shock (1983) with Rockit became a commercial pop and electro hit. He has won 14 Grammy Awards across multiple decades, including Album of the Year in 2008 for River: The Joni Letters - the second jazz album ever to win the top Grammy.
Herbie Hancock's catalog spans hard bop, post-bop, modal jazz, jazz fusion, jazz-funk, electro, and contemporary jazz with extensive stylistic evolution across his career. His keyboard work - combining acoustic piano, Rhodes electric piano, Hohner Clavinet, and various synthesizers - has been a defining template across multiple eras of jazz keyboard playing.
Original Blue Note pressings of the 1960s Hancock catalog are foundational items in jazz collecting. Multiple audiophile reissues including the Acoustic Sounds, Music Matters, Tone Poet, and Mobile Fidelity series have made the catalog widely accessible.
Listeners new to Herbie Hancock typically start with Maiden Voyage (1965) or Head Hunters (1973).
