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Rapp on Jazz: Herbie Hancock

Herbie Hancock poses on the red carpet during an award reception at the Library of Congress for 2023 Gershwin Prize for Popular Song honoree Joni Mitchell, February 28, 2023.
Shawn Miller
/
Library of Congress/Flickr
Herbie Hancock poses on the red carpet during an award reception at the Library of Congress for 2023 Gershwin Prize for Popular Song honoree Joni Mitchell, February 28, 2023.

TRANSCRIPT:

Hi, I’m Mark Rapp, and this is Rapp on Jazz.

Pianist and composer Herbie Hancock, born in 1941 in Chicago, began his career with trumpeter Donald Byrd's group and quickly joined the legendary Miles Davis Quintet. He transformed the jazz rhythm section and influenced today's post-bop sound.

Some of Herbie's famous compositions include "Cantaloupe Island," "Watermelon Man," "Maiden Voyage," and "Chameleon." He boldly experimented with jazz fusion, funk, and electronic music, especially in his groundbreaking album, “Head Hunters. “

With an Academy Award and 14 Grammy Awards, including Album of the Year, this extraordinary pianist and composer has reinvented jazz throughout his incredible six-decade journey and is a giant of modern music.

This has been Rapp on Jazz, a co-production of ColaJazz and SC Public Radio, made possible in part by Layman Poupard Publishers, producers of the Literary Criticism Series and the Dictionary of Literary Biography.