Herbie Hancock

Take Five: A Poignant Jazz Playlist for Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Curated By Our Hosts

By Editor • Jan 16, 2021
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

MLK Day was first observed as a federal holiday precisely 35 years ago.

WBGO's Top 20 Stories of 2020: Diving Into the Music, and Honoring Legends Here and Gone

By • Dec 30, 2020
Jonathan Chimene

To state the obvious, this was a year like no other.

Sleeping Giants: The Brief Reign and Brilliant Legacy of Herbie Hancock's Mwandishi Band

By & • Nov 10, 2020

Fifty years ago, Herbie Hancock formed a sextet on the vanguard of electroacoustic music.

We remember it now as Mwandishi, after the title of its debut album — the first of three studio releases in as many years, during a run that has largely been overshadowed in the scope of Hancock’s career. Wedged between the curvilinear post-bop of the 1960s and the strutting jazz-funk of Head Hunters, Mwandishi embodied a distinct alignment of time and space, a moment unlikely to be replicated.

Herbie Hancock Institute of Jazz Announces 12 Semifinalists For Its Int'l Guitar Competition

By • Nov 11, 2019
Steve Mundinger / Herbie Hancock Institute of Jazz

The Herbie Hancock Institute of Jazz has announced 12 semifinalists for its International Guitar Competition, to be held next month in Washington, D.C.

Herbie Hancock on Cultural Exchange, New Horizons, and "the Survival of Planet Earth"

By Editor • Aug 1, 2019

Whatever else you call Herbie Hancock — jazz-piano paragon, funk-fusion pioneer, Afro-Futurist, humanitarian, sage — you’d have to agree on “moving target.”

Forward motion is the hallmark of his multifaceted career, which has yielded all manner of accolades, including a lifetime achievement award at the Grammys in 2016.

Watch the International Jazz Day Global Concert, From Melbourne, Australia

By Editor • Apr 30, 2019
Nate Chinen

International Jazz Day culminated in an All-Star Global Concert, held this year at Hamer Hall in Melbourne, Australia. Watch the concert webcast archive here. 

The Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz International Piano Competition Has a Winner

By • Dec 3, 2018
Steve Mundinger / Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz

Tom Oren, a 24-year-old pianist from Tel Aviv, Israel, has won the 2018 Thelonious Monk International Jazz Competition.

He was awarded first prize at a gala concert on Monday night, at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. Along with his prestigious honor, Oren will receive $25,000 in scholarship funds and a recording contract with the Concord Music Group.

Kris Davis and Craig Taborn Find Orbit, and Herbie Hancock Offers "Actual Proof," in Take Five

By • Jan 22, 2018
Peter Gannushkin

Kris Davis and Craig Taborn, "Love in Outer Space"

On The Cusp Of His North American Tour, Herbie Hancock Is Still Hurtling Forward

By • Aug 4, 2017
NPR

There’s an emblematic photograph of Herbie Hancock on the back cover of his album Sunlight, which he began recording 40 years ago this month. He’s depicted against a red backdrop with a Sennheiser vocoder headset on his cranium, which is bowed in deep focus.

He’s also totally boxed in by his keyboards. The LP insert sleeve includes a diagram to help identify them by name: Oberheim Polyphonic Synthesizer, Sequential Circuits Prophet Synthesizer, ARP 2600, ARP Odyssey, Micro-Moog, Mini-Moog, Poly-Moog. (This is not a complete tally.)

A Confluence of Vibrant Rhythm and Hopeful Goodwill in Havana, For International Jazz Day

By • May 2, 2017
Steve Mundinger / Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz

HAVANA, Cuba — Chucho Valdés and Gonzalo Rubalcaba sat at a pair of grand pianos on Sunday night at the Gran Teatro de la Habana Alicia Alonzo, during the sixth annual International Jazz Day Global Concert, and modeled more than one kind of equilateral exchange.

Take Five, Duo Edition: Chick Corea & Herbie Hancock, Randy Ingram & Drew Gress, More

By • Apr 16, 2017
Ernest Gregory / courtesy Chick Corea Productions

This week, Take Five is all about duos: from all-star summit meetings, like the one pictured above, to collaborative new partnerships like the Upstate Project, jointly led by singer-songwriter Rebecca Martin and pianist-composer Guillermo Klein. The unifying thread is deep colloquy bound by mutual respect — along with the sheer quality of the music.

Flying Lotus, Terrace Martin Pick Their Favorite Herbie Hancock Tracks

By editor • Apr 11, 2017

When you talk to jazz aficionados, you often hear about a ground zero, a Eureka moment of musical awakening that opens up the bounty of the music. For some of us (myself included), that moment was hearing Herbie Hancock for the first time.

Celebrating the Cool and Humor of Dexter Gordon

By Stevan Smith • Feb 21, 2017
Abraham Burton, Maxine Gordon and WBGO Host Gary Walker

"Long Tall" Dexter Gordon is one of the best known and significant musicians on his instrument: he was one of the first tenor saxophonists to adopt the bebop style, and influenced players such as John Coltrane and Sonny Rollins. Gordon's widow and former manager-producer, Maxine Gordon, and saxophonist Abraham Burton join Morning Jazz host Gary Walker to discuss the man and his music.