Herbie Hancock has immeasurably and consistently contributed to the jazz and pop music scene through his groundbreaking five-decade professional career. He has been honored with awards several times over, including an Academy Award for his score to the 1986 film ‘Round Midnight (in which he also appeared as an actor), over ten Grammy Awards (including Best Album of the Year for his 2007 album River: The Joni Letters), five MTV Music Video Awards (for the 1983 single “Rockit” video), the Musical Arts Award at BET Honors, and more.

Influenced by legendary jazz pianists Oscar Peterson and Bill Evans, acoustic jazz was Hancock’s first passion. In the mid-1960s, Hancock was a member of the Miles Davis Quintet and was involved in many of the group’s classic recordings, including ESP and Nefertiti. During this time, he also began a solo career, recording a number of albums on the Blue Note label including Maiden Voyage and Speak Like a Child.

In the late 1960s, Hancock appeared as a guest on Davis’ revolutionary Bitches Brew and In a Silent Way, helping to pioneer jazz-fusion as a new genre. Hancock was inspired to start his own group, the Headhunters, in the early 1970s. Its eponymous 1973 album was the first jazz record to earn platinum status, featured myriad eclectic and electronic instruments, and debuted the modern standards “Chameleon” and “Watermelon Man.” Hancock’s experimentation with crossing genres resulted in over ten albums on the pop charts in the 1970s and influenced generations of pop, R&B, and hip-hop artists to come.

The 1980s, 1990s, and 2000s saw Hancock deeply engaged in collaboration with artists from every genre of music, including Joni Mitchell, Sting, Tina Turner, Dave Matthews, The Chieftains, Derek Trucks, Paul Simon, the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, Stevie Wonder, and John Mayer, to name only a few, which have produced highly acclaimed and often award-winning albums including Sound System, Dis is da Drum, The New Standard, Gershwin’s World, River: The Joni Letters, and Herbie Hancock’s The Imagine Project, among others. Throughout his career, Hancock continued collaborating with more traditional jazz artists as well, including pianists Chick Corea and Oscar Peterson, trumpeter Wynton Marsalis, bassist Dave Holland, saxophonist Wayne Shorter, and more.

Beyond his musical achievements, Hancock was most recently named an UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador in July 2011 for his “dedication to the promotion of peace through dialogue, culture and the arts” and received the internationally revered Commandeur des Arts et des Lettres award from French Prime Minister Francois Fillon. He serves as a chairman for the Los Angeles Philharmonic Association and the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz, and is a founder of the International Committee of Artists for Peace.

Hancock performs a solo recital at the Lied Center on October 30, during which he will reinterpret his benchmark jazz, funk, and fusion compositions on electronic keyboards and acoustic piano.

PREVIEW:
Lied Center of Kansas
Herbie Hancock
Sunday, October 30, 2011, 7:30 p.m.
Lied Center of Kansas
KU Campus
1600 Stewart Drive, Lawrence, KS
For more information, visit www.lied.ku.edu

Top Photo: Herbie Hancock (Photo by Tony Gieske)

By Kristin Shafel Omiccioli

Editorial Assignments Executive Editor; Traditional and New Classical Contributor

Kristin Shafel Omiccioli, a native of Madison, WI, holds composition degrees (M.M., B.M.) from the UMKC Conservatory of Music and Dance. Kristin's compositions have been performed at national and regional new music festivals and conferences throughout the United States. During her time at UMKC, Kristin also focused on double bass performance and arts administration. She was a student leader and performer in many of the Conservatory's student organizations and ensembles, including Musica Nova, Composers' Guild, the Conservatory Student Association, the orchestras, and Wind Symphony. Her composition instructors were James Mobberley, Paul Rudy, Zhou Long, and Chen Yi, and her bass instructor was Sue Stubbs. Formerly a guitarist, Kristin performed with big bands and her own jazz combo in Madison, WI, having studied jazz guitar and theory with Roger Brotherhood in Madison and jazz voice and theory with Hal Melia in Kansas City at UMKC.

Kristin enjoys being active in the performing arts community. She has volunteered with the Chamber Music Society of Kansas City and Charlotte Street Foundation, and has played in the bass section of the Northland Symphony Orchestra, among other bass gigs around the metro. Kristin currently serves as principal bass for the Kansas City Civic Orchestra and Heritage Philharmonic, and is a section bassist for Kinnor Philharmonic. She joined the writing staff of KCMetropolis.org in February 2010 and has been KCM’s executive editor since July 2011. Read her blog at mylittleheartmelodies.com.

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