Herbie Hancock, jazz music's supreme diplomat, plays the Toronto Jazz Festival this month. (Dan Steinberg)
Herbie Hancock’s business card may read “musician,” but he’s also a career diplomat. His strongest allegiance is to jazz, but he’s done more than any other jazz player — arguably any other musician — to forge links between jazz, pop, electronic and world music.
Hancock issued his first album, Takin’ Off, in 1962, but it was while in the employ of Miles Davis in the mid-’60s that the pianist truly flourished, gaining recognition for his bold yet cerebral playing. Hancock would eventually embrace jazz-fusion with as much gusto as Miles himself. Hancock formed the funk-inflected band Headhunters in 1973; the group’s self-titled debut remains one of the best-selling jazz albums of all time.
Since then, Hancock has continued to be a restless innovator, offsetting every jazz recording with a foray into pop. His most famous pop statement was the 1983 electro classic Future Shock (which yielded the twitchy single Rockit); more recently, he recorded an album of rock covers in a jazz style (1996’s New Standard) and collaborated with contemporary singers like John Mayer, Christina Aguilera and Sting (2005’s Possibilities).
In May, the Toronto Jazz Festival announced that Hancock, 67, would replace the ailing Oscar Peterson in its GRANDMASTERS series, a run of shows taking place in the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts. On the phone from his Los Angeles home, Hancock spoke to CBC Arts Online about the influence of Oscar Peterson, when he first discovered his own musical voice and a new collaboration with his good friend Joni Mitchell.
Q: As you know, Oscar Peterson is quite ill, which is the reason you’re filling in for him at the Toronto Jazz Festival. What influence has he had on you as a piano player?
A: He was one of the first people who piqued my interest in jazz. I tried to copy his solos or his phrases off of various records [of his] early on. His sense of swing, I loved that. I loved the intelligence in his playing, the lyricism, and the blues element that’s there.
Q: Once you managed to mimic some of Peterson’s solos, you must have felt that you’d mastered something.
A: But I haven’t mastered it, nor have I attempted to master it, because it’s him. At a certain point in my own development, I wanted to find out about me, where am I coming from, where is my individuality. But certainly, Oscar Peterson was a huge part of me discovering my individuality. His influence is felt in my playing today.
Q: When did you first discover your individuality?
A: I think the time when I was with Miles Davis — middle period of that time, which is mid-’60s — I began to recognize that I did have my own style. It wasn’t that I could describe it, but I heard a record playing — I remember this experience — I heard a record on the radio, and wondered, when did I do that record? I’m listening and listening, and then I said, “Wait a minute, that’s not me.” Other people told me about my style, but I didn’t know what they were talking about. But when I heard that [song], I could recognize that it was someone who was influenced by me.
If I were to describe my style, or my individuality, I think I have a particular touch that’s mine, on the instrument.Q: Over the course of your career, you’ve done things that have unsettled the jazz community — I’m thinking specifically of your foray into jazz-funk with Headhunters and your electronic records in the ’80s. Were you ever upset by the fact that you were misunderstood?
Hancock performs in San Francisco in 1981, during his electronic phase. (Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images)
A: It never got me down, because I felt that that was what I was supposed to do. It had nothing to do with whether it resonated with everybody or not. When I first did Headhunters, it was partly out of a curiosity about what would that be like, if I did something that was more funky or earthy at this point; who knew that there was a larger public out there that was dying to hear that? When I did it, I realized that it might awaken a new audience to my music; at the same time, it might not sit well with my own fan base, which I had developed up to that point. In other words, I might not gain anybody new, and I might lose the [fans] I had. [Laughs]
But it was something I honestly felt I needed to do. Some of the fans I already had loved it, and some didn’t. But the only ones who objected to me doing it were the critics. Musicians — even those who were not into jazz-rock or fusion or jazz-funk, for those that it wasn’t to their taste — they didn’t object to me doing it. It was only the press, the jazz press, that almost expressed that I didn’t have a right to do it. I said, “Well, how about getting the handcuffs off me?”Q: You recently performed at the Joni Mitchell tribute at the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame gala. Could you talk about your musical relationship with her?
A: Joni is an amazing human being, as well as an amazing artist in general. She’s a genius. I have a tremendous respect for her. As a matter of fact, my next record is all about Joni Mitchell, from my perspective — it’s mostly her songs. We just completed pretty much all the tracks for it. There’s still some vocals that need to be done on it. Norah Jones did one vocal, Tina Turner did one, Corinne Bailey Rae is doing one. Joni’s going to sing one song and Leonard Cohen, he’s doing a spoken word thing that I’m improvising on.
Q: You’ve played in small clubs, in outdoor festivals like Bonnaroo as well as in concert halls. How does your playing differ from venue to venue?
A: I try not to think too much when I’m actually playing. When we’re playing festivals and stuff and really large places, a lot of the subtleties just won’t translate, and a lot of speed won’t translate, either; physically, the sound won’t get out there. So the larger gestures are what reach out there.
Q: After playing professionally for nearly 50 years, do you feel that you still have anything to learn technically?
A: I decided some time ago that I was no longer interested in being a virtuoso of the piano. I just want to play the music; the technique is a tool. I’m not going for speed just to be fancy. I’m looking for more about what the music feels like. The sound that’s happening, the sound being the vehicle, the message, the emotion and the drama is what’s carried through the medium. That’s what I’m primarily interested in.
The Herbie Hancock Quartet (which includes guitarist Lionel Loueke, bassist Nathan East and drummer Vinnie Colaiuta) will perform at the TD Canada Trust Toronto Jazz Festival on June 26.
Andre Mayer writes about the arts for CBC.ca.
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