Herbie Hancock, a musical genius
16 Jun 2006 04:09 PM / Filed in: Music
During the eighties, I became a big fan of Break Dance and the Music associated with it. I even practiced some myself with my classmates and neighbours at that time. And you can imagine how I feel now when I see Break Dancers and the level they reached today. It's simply amazing and it you happen to be in Paris and would like to see some of it, go to UGC Ciné-Cité Les Halles around 8-9 PM.
"Great" you might think ... "but what's the relationship with Herbie Hancock?". The answer is very simple: Rockit, the song Herbie released in 1983 and its video clip. I have sharp memories of watching the video on Moroccan T.V. as a youngster with my brother Aziz. And this is how I was introduced to Break Dance. Later on, I watched movies such as Breakin'.
Herbie Hancock is one of the most important Jazz pianists of the last forty or so years who earned many awards. He was part of Miles Davis "second great quintet". Even if he is kind of "avant-garde" and a huge experimentalist, his music is accessible. What I'd like most about him is the way he uses elements of other musical genres into the very fabric of his Jazz grounds which allows him to produce incredible stuff. His sense of groove is also immense. Just check his records during the 70's era such as Sextant or Head Hunters. Be it Funk, Acid Jazz, plain Jazz, Electro or even Pop, Herbie's signature is unmistakable.
If you haven't checked his work yet, it's high time to do so and if you love many music genres as I do, you'll keep seeing Herbie's songs popping here and there.
While I consider all the albums I've listened to so far (I own around ten not counting his work with Miles Davis) to be great, I advise you to check out the following albums first:
For more information about Herbie Hancock, check out his Wikipedia entry and his website. And for the Rockit video clip, check this Youtube.com page.
"Great" you might think ... "but what's the relationship with Herbie Hancock?". The answer is very simple: Rockit, the song Herbie released in 1983 and its video clip. I have sharp memories of watching the video on Moroccan T.V. as a youngster with my brother Aziz. And this is how I was introduced to Break Dance. Later on, I watched movies such as Breakin'.
Herbie Hancock is one of the most important Jazz pianists of the last forty or so years who earned many awards. He was part of Miles Davis "second great quintet". Even if he is kind of "avant-garde" and a huge experimentalist, his music is accessible. What I'd like most about him is the way he uses elements of other musical genres into the very fabric of his Jazz grounds which allows him to produce incredible stuff. His sense of groove is also immense. Just check his records during the 70's era such as Sextant or Head Hunters. Be it Funk, Acid Jazz, plain Jazz, Electro or even Pop, Herbie's signature is unmistakable.
If you haven't checked his work yet, it's high time to do so and if you love many music genres as I do, you'll keep seeing Herbie's songs popping here and there.
While I consider all the albums I've listened to so far (I own around ten not counting his work with Miles Davis) to be great, I advise you to check out the following albums first:
- Takin' Off
- Future 2 Future
- Sextant
- Head Hunters
- Future Shock (which contains Rockit)
For more information about Herbie Hancock, check out his Wikipedia entry and his website. And for the Rockit video clip, check this Youtube.com page.