Herbie Hancock: Speak Like A Child

The music of Herbie Hancock has affected the lives of generations of jazz performers. Like many of these musicians, it was the opportunity to play with the great pianist/composer that introduced the great drummer Mike Clark to the jazz world at large. To show his appreciation, Clark presents a selection of his favorite Hancock pieces performed with a trio on his new recording, Mike Clark Plays Herbie Hancock.

Herbert Jeffrey Hancock (born April 12, 1940) is an American jazz pianist, keyboardist, bandleader, composer, and occasional actor. Hancock started his career with trumpeter Donald Byrd’s group. He shortly thereafter joined the Miles Davis Quintet, where he helped to redefine the role of a jazz rhythm section and was one of the primary architects of the post-bop sound…

From the start of his solo recording career in 1962, when he was 22, Herbie Hancock was a very original pianist/composer. Strangely enough, despite the explorative nature of much of his music, Hancock was also quite accessible, recording the future hit "Watermelon Man" on his debut date. This six-CD set is a must for all jazz collectors who do not already own Hancock's Blue Note albums, for the box contains the complete contents of the pianist's albums Takin' Off, My Point of View, Inventions & Dimensions, Empyrean Isles, Maiden Voyage, Speak Like a Child, and The Prisoner.

This is part of the Columbia/Legacy Ken Burns JAZZ series.

Mirroring his onetime boss and mentor Miles Davis' own protean output, Herbie Hancock has explored hard bop, soul-jazz, fusion, funk-rock, soundtracks, hip-hop-inflected pop ("Rockit"), and many permutations in between. His early work for Blue Note, though, offers the best entrée for newcomers. Compiled from five of his albums for the label and covering a period from 1962-1968, this fine sampler includes highlights from his debut, Takin' Off ("Watermelon Man"), the classic Maiden Voyage (the title track and "Dolphin Dance"), and the early electric album Speak Like a Child (the title track and "Riot"). Add to this more indelible cuts like "Cantaloupe Island" and "One Finger Snap," not to mention the presence of numerous '60s jazz luminaries (Dexter Gordon, Freddie Hubbard, Thad Jones, Hank Mobley, Billy Higgins, et al.), and you have perfect way to get a taste of some of the best modern jazz committed to wax.

This DVD Video brings you a full length club performance capturing Herbie Hancock's triumphant 2002 return to the era-defining electric funk sound of the 1970's. The concert was recorded live at the Knitting Factory in L.A. in the highest audio and video fidelity available and is presented for this DVD Video in ground breaking Dolby Digital and DTS 5.1 surround sound. The band features heralded players including Wallace Roney on trumpet, Darrell Diaz on keyboards, Terri Lyne Carrington on drums, Matthew Garrison on bass and DJ Disk on the turntable.MX Multiangle- This MX DVD Video offers approx. 30 minutes of a unique multi-angle feature which lets you see more of the onstage action.

Hancock is one of the best known modern jazz composers, creator of “Watermelon Man” (which has been a reference point throughout his career), “Maiden Voyage”, “Dolphin Dance”, right through to the dance grooves of “Rockit”. Hancock also has the distinction of having made the largest-selling jazz record of all time in “Head Hunters”. The early genius of Herbie Hancock – perfectly summed up here in five classic albums for Blue Note – each presented in a tiny LP-styled sleeve.

The first 2cd collection to span herbie hancock's entire career, from 1962 debut lp to 2000 collaboration with stevie wonder. Includes previously unreleased 1978 live concert duet with joni mitchell on "goodbye pork pie hat" from mingus plus appearances with dexter gordon, freddie hubbard, sonny rollins, ron carter, tony williams, miles davis, wayne shorter, joe henderson, harvey mason, bill laswell, and more!