Herbie Hancock and J&R

I was first introduced musically to Herbie Hancock in 1973. There was this funky “fusion” band called The Head Hunters that we all loved. The Head Hunters album was full of Herbie Hancock’s soaring keyboard sounds– his electric piano weaved through the rhythms and surfaced for economic, imaginative solos. I learned then that “Fusion” music is essentially electric jazz.

I went back to early Herbie Hancock records like Fat Albert Rotunda and the early Miles Davis quintet releases. It was hard to believe that such a young performer had such a long musical history. In point of fact, Herbie performed at a young people’s concert in Chicago at age eleven!

Over the many decades, Herbie Hancock has produced soundtracks, music for TV commercials, traditional jazz, pop jazz, experimental jazz, and funky jazz. He has toured internationally, and collaborated with diverse talents. He acted and performed in the film Round Midnight, and even had a hit on MTV (”Rockit” in 1983).

J&R CEO Rachelle Friedman onstage at Jazzfest with Herbie Hancock

Many of us at J&R have first-hand knowledge of Herbie’s music. He performed at the J&R Downtown JazzFest in City Hall Park in 1999 and then again in 2000. We at J&R remember Herbie as good-natured and accessible. His music was dynamite.

So it comes as no surprise that Herbie has changed direction again. His current album, an interpretation of Joni Mitchell compositions called River: The Joni Letters, has been awarded a Grammy for Album of the Year.

Congratulations to Herbie Hancock from J&R!

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