![]() ![]() associate relationship with Baptista, Cyro (born 23 December 1950).Link to Wikipedia biography Relationships The Hancock family make their home in Hollywood, CA. After marrying East German born wife Gigi in 1968, their daughter Jessica was born in 1970. "I decided I could never be a genius in the class of Miles, Parker or Coltrane," he said, "So I might just as well forget about becoming a legend and just be satisfied to create some music to make people happy."Ĭontinued success followed with soundtracks for the films "Death Wish," "A Soldier's Story" and "Jo Jo Dancer, Your Life Is Calling." Other successful progressive jazz LPs include "Dedication," 1974 and "Village Life" 1985.īraving all critics, Hancock transcends trivia with his beloved philosophy of Nichiren Shoshu Buddhism which he has devoutly practiced for 26 years, chanting twice a day at the rosewood altar in his home. After Hancock released his 1974 album "Headhunters," which featured a dance floor hit "Cameleon," jazz purists disowned him with decidedly mixed reviews. By the time he left Davis in 1968, Hancock and other Davisite pianists legitimized the electronic keyboard and changed the face of pop music. Mentor Byrd then recommended Hancock to jazz giant Miles Davis, who hired him to play in his legendary quintet and introduced him to the electronic piano. Later Byrd helped Hancock get a contract with the "Blue Note" record label where Hancock launched his recording career with "Takin' Off in 1962. A friend recommended Hancock - and the one night stand became a permanent job. Trumpeter Don Byrd needed a jazz pianist at the last minute to fill in for one who was delayed by a blizzard. By 1960 he was playing piano in local Chicago clubs when his big break came. While attending Grinnell, Hancock switched his major to music. "Everybody in my father's family thought she was crazy, too high falutin.' But my mother gave us hope." As his first and most important mentor, Mother Winnie was the moving force behind a gifted yet somewhat lackadaisical talent. Winnie then pushed her son to play in the high school orchestra and then to earn a practical degree in engineering at Grinnell College in Iowa. By age 11, Herbie performed the first movement of Mozart's Concerto in D minor in a young people's concert with the Chicago Symphony. The boy proved such an excellent student he often skipped grades prompting Mother Winnie, who poured all of her seething ambition onto her children, to buy a piano for $5.00 in a church basement sale for her bright seven year old boy, who would rather experiment with sounds than go outside to play. Herbie grew up on the South Side of Chicago, one of three children of homemaker Winnie Griffin and grocery clerk Waylon Hancock. One of the leading jazz pianists of his generation, Hancock skyrocketed to fame in 1962 with his debut album "Takin' Off," which included his signature hit song "Watermelon Man." A two-time Grammy winner, Hancock was soundtrack composer of the critically acclaimed Oscar-winning film "Round Midnight" in 1986. 1 issue of Billboard.Photo: Marco Fedele ( ), license cc-by-2.0 BiographyĪmerican musician and composer. ![]() I looked at my daughter and sobbed, wondering how I had gotten to this place but thankful that it was finally going to end. I had been struggling with this habit, and this secret, for so long. ![]() This was an intervention, and I was so embarrassed, but there was another feeling creeping in, too: relief. “I’m so sorry,” I said, to Gigi and everybody else in the room. “I made some calls, and here are the numbers for some rehab places. “If you continue this way, you are going to have to move out.” I just looked at her, my heart aching. “Herbie, I’m not going to watch you die,” she said. It all just came crashing down on me in that moment, and I burst into tears. And I felt so sorry, so terribly sorry, for having disappointed these people whom I loved and who loved me. These were the people I cared about most in the world, the people I felt most embarrassed to see in the state I was in. I opened the door and saw Gigi, Jessica and two of our dear friends sitting there. When I got home, I heard Gigi call to me. I called a taxi and hurried out of the building, scared but finally coming down from my high. ![]()
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