Herbie Hancock

American jazz pianist, keyboardist, composer, band leader (born April 12, 1940, in Chicago, Illinois, USA).

Hancock is one of the best-known modern jazz composers, creator of “Watermelon Man” (which has been a reference point throughout his career), “Maiden Voyage”, “Dolphin Dance”, right through to the dance grooves of “[r=3173760]”. Learned the piano from the age of 6, performing piano concertos by [a95546] with the [a837562] aged 11. He came to wider attention via his work with trumpeter [a20956] who introduced him to [l281] co-founder [a252962]; he recorded for Lion's label as both leader and sideman throughout the 1960s while he was a member of trumpeter [a23755]' regular working group from 1963 to 1968. Entered a period of working in jazz fusion from the late 1960s, initially with Davis, and then in his own groups in the 1970s; the "Headhunters" album was a best seller. Around the same time, he worked with the acoustic [a813480], effectively the Davis second quintet with [a55745] substituting.