Corry BanksThis month’s BBoyTechReport Bookclub feature is Herbie Hancock’s ‘Possibilities’. In Possibilities Herbie tells his story with charm and finesse from his humble beginnings on Chicago’s south side to the playing alongside mentor and friend Miles Davis. All along the way growing as a master musician, Herbie’s tales are inspiring and instantly relatable. Certainly, relatable to myself being that I, like Herbie, have never been one for sports, grew up in Chicago and always had more of a love for music than anything else. Herbie is indeed one of my personal heroes.
Herbie allows you to journey with him through his life and his music in a way that is unparalleled by any musician or artist. I’d recommend this book as a great read to anyone involved in music and anyone not involved in music. Believe me its such an inspiring book that you may run out and buy a Rhodes and a Minimoog. Charge it to being high on the “Possibilities”.
HERBIE HANCOCK: Possibilities By Herbie Hancock with Lisa Dickey
Herbie Hancock is a true icon of modern music: a jazz pianist and composer whose illustrious career has spanned seven decades, fourteen Grammy Awards, and Academy Award, and most recently, a Kennedy Center Honor.
Now in his memoir HERBIE HANCOCK: Possibilities (Viking; released for sale on October 27, 2014; 9780670014712; $29.95), Hancock explores his extraordinary career and his beginnings as a child prodigy in Chicago; branching out into electronic keyboards and changing the face of jazz and music as a whole via both his solo work and with artists including Miles Davis, Stevie Wonder, Joni Mitchell, Sting, Annie Lennox, Christina Aguilera, and Tina Turner; his long and happy marriage with Gigi, his wife of forty-two years; his discover of Buddhism; and , for the first time ever, his personal struggle with addiction.
HERBIE HANCOCK: Possibilities addresses what he feels are the possibilities inherent in music and in life. Hancock’s long-term commitment to Buddhism lead him to realize that human beings can live lives of true freedom; that people have the ability to turn any adversity or struggle into something of value – an opportunity and a way to move one’s live forward. Hancock’s integration of music, daily life, and Buddhism offers the freedom and courage to explore new horizons, enabling Hancock to stay active and vital in whatever he attempted, both personally and artistically.
There are few artists in the industry who can even come close to the influence on music overall that Herbie Hancock has had. As the immortal Miles Davis said in his autobiography, “Herbie was the step after Bud Powell and Thelonious Monk, and I haven’t heard anybody yet who has come after him.”
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Born in Chicago in 1940, 14-Grammy Winner Herbie Hancock was a child piano prodigy who performed a Mozart piano concerto with the Chicago symphony Orchestra at age 11. He began planning jazz in high school, initially influenced by Oscar Peterson and Bill Evens. He also developed a passion for electronics and science, and double-majored in music and electrical engineering at Grinnell College. He acted and planed in the file Round Midnight (1986) and won an Oscar for his score. River: the Joni Letters won a Grammy for Record of the Year in December of 2012. In May 2014 he received a Lifetime Achievement Award from SFJazz.