Available:*
Library | Call Number | Status |
|---|---|---|
Searching... Stillwater Public Library | 781.6509 WEN | Searching... Unknown |
Bound With These Titles
On Order
Summary
Summary
The musical output of jazz pianist and composer Herbie Hancock has toppled genre boundaries and influenced generations of musicians. A child prodigy who worked his way up through classical tradition, found a home for his insatiable creativity in jazz, and went on to influence musicians across numerous genres, Hancock's work continues to be a staple in mainstream music.
In addition to his classical training and innovative jazz work, Hancock has explored many forms of music such as rock, funk and world music, always looking ahead rather than rehashing what has already been accomplished. In Experiencing Herbie Hancock, Eric Wendell looks beyond the successes and failures of Hancock's career in an effort to explore Hancock's musical design within the jazz community and within the popular mainstream. Wendell also explores Hancock's dramatic impact on the jazz community and how his efforts have fostered a cross-genre continuity among modern jazz practitioners.
Hancock's chameleon attitude towards contemporary music styles has been met with excitement from both peers and fans alike. Experiencing Herbie Hancock is an ideal work for jazz aficionados, music, and anyone who appreciates the efforts of an artist who would rather look ahead to the great unknown then tread backwards on past endeavors.
Author Notes
Eric Wendell is a New York-based musician, writer, and historian. He is the author of Patti Smith America's Punk Rock Rhapsodist (Rowman Littlefield, 2014) and was a contributor to Music in American Life: An Encyclopedia of the Songs, Styles, Stars, and Stories That Shaped Our Culture.
Reviews (2)
Publisher's Weekly Review
Jazz pianist Herbie Hancock gets a respectful analysis from musician and writer Wendell (Patti Smith), who dissects the illustrious career of the constantly evolving contemporary legend. Wendell's measured narrative follows Hancock from his performance with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra at age 12 in 1952, through his first performances with saxophonist Coleman Hawkins in 1960, to his string of adventurous Blue Note albums. Hancock dazzled as part of Miles Davis's second great quintet on classics such as "My Funny Valentine," "Miles Smiles," and "In a Silent Way." With his own group of musicians, Hancock recorded such gems as "Empyrean Isles," "Speak like a Child," and "Maiden Voyage." The pianist's MTV videos and Oscar win for his 1986 score of the movie Round Midnight brought him to the attention of the masses, but critics blasted him as a sellout for his series of tame funk-electronic fusion albums from the '70s to the '90s. This is an excellent overview of a successful musical maverick who made a career out of finding new ways of breaking the rules. (July) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
Booklist Review
If anyone can be called a Renaissance man, it surely is the musical virtuoso Herbie Hancock. In this finely detailed account of his illustrious and wide-ranging career, Wendell first considers Hancock's musical roots on the South Side of Chicago, where he worked in the post office by day and played the clubs at night. At 21, he made his recording debut on the album Out of This World (1961), and then he was off. Wendell lovingly follows Hancock through the arc of his long recording career as an innovative pianist, keyboard player, composer, and bandleader, including the Blue Note years; his famous composition Watermelon Man ; his collaborations with Miles Davis, Chick Corea, and Wynton Marsalis, to name a few; his film scores, including Death Wish (1974), a dissonant work partly inspired by Igor Stravinsky, and Round Midnight (1986), for which he won an Academy Award; and his mainstream success with the 1983 single Rockit. In July 2011, Hancock was named a UNESCO goodwill ambassador. An absolute must for Hancock fans and everyone interested in jazz and fusion.--June Sawyers Copyright 2018 Booklist
Table of Contents
| Series Editor's Foreword | p. vii |
| Acknowledgments | p. xi |
| Introduction | p. xii |
| Timeline | p. xxi |
| 1 Brave Beginnings: Chicago, Mozart, and Blue Note | p. 1 |
| 2 Next Steps: Miles, (Re)Inventions, and New Mediums | p. 19 |
| 3 The Gil Evans Influence: Speak Like a Child | p. 41 |
| 4 Mwandishi to Head Hunters: A Study in Subtlety | p. 65 |
| 5 What's Next?: Hancock Hurtles toward the Majors | p. 85 |
| 6 The Pop Promise of Herbie Hancock: The Disco/Synth Stew of Monster | p. 107 |
| 7 A Video Star Is Born: The (Re)Introduction of Hancock for the MTV Generation | p. 123 |
| 8 One for Their Mentor: A Tribute to Miles | p. 141 |
| 9 Brothers in Arms: The Musical Tête-à-Tête of 1+1 | p. 157 |
| 10 Hancock Courts TO the Masses: The Hope of Possibilities | p. 179 |
| Epilogue | p. 193 |
| Notes | p. 199 |
| Selected Reading | p. 209 |
| Selected Listening | p. 211 |
| Index | p. 213 |
| About the Author | p. 223 |
