Herbie Hancock Quotes

Jazz is really about the human experience. It's about the ability of human beings to take the worst of circumstances and struggles and turn it into something creative and constructive. That's something that's built into the fiber of every human being. And I think that's why people can respond to it. They feel the freedom in it. And the attributes of jazz are also admirable. It's about dialogue. It's about sharing. And teamwork. It's in the moment, and it's nonjudgmental.

The strongest thing that any human being has going is their own integrity and their own heart. As soon as you start veering away from that, the solidity that you need in order to be able to stand up for what you believe in and deliver what's really inside, it's just not going to be there.

But, the truth is that everyone is somebody already.

In World War II, jazz absolutely was the music of freedom, and then in the Cold War, behind the Iron Curtain, same thing. It was all underground, but they needed the food of freedom that jazz offered.

The thing that we possess, that machines don't, is the ability to exhibit wisdom.

I don't think there are any pure Africans of the African Americans, but the African part of our history was pretty much taken away from us during slavery, so the 60s gave us a chance, because of the civil rights movement, to kind of re-examine and make some sort of formal connection to our African-ness.

I've had a life that has taken many interesting paths. I've learned a lot from mentors who were instrumental in shaping me, and I want to share what I've learned.

I've been a religious, spiritual person for a long time.

The music becomes something that is its own entity.

I hope to use dialogue and culture as a means of bringing people of various cultures together, and using that as a way to resolve conflict.

Music is the tool to express life - and all that makes a difference.

I like the idea of an eclectic approach, incorporating jazz with other forms and other genres of music.

We can all be ourselves, be true to ourselves, and all be together.

Jazz translates the moment into a sense of inspiration for not only the musicians but for the listeners.

I think risk-taking is a great adventure. And life should be full of adventures.

One of the most important functions of jazz has been to encourage a hope for freedom, for people living in situations of intolerance or struggle.

So much of what I create has been due to the influence of Miles Davis and Donald Byrd, and so many of those that have passed on. Their music, their legacy lives on with the rest of us because we are so highly influenced by their experience and what they have given us.

I'm one of the people who was a pioneer in encouraging musicians, early in the game, to get interested in technology, and now all the musicians are getting into it.

World peace is no longer some pie-in-the-sky thing, because no single person or country is going to solve it on their own.

There's so much spontaneity involved, what do you practice? How do you practice teamwork? How do you practice sharing? How do you practice daring? How do you practice being nonjudgmental?

There are a lot of records coming out, in every field of music, not just jazz.

Sometimes you have to create a vision, a path for a vision. It may not be apparent, and you may have to forge it yourself. And that will be the way to move your life forward.

Don't be afraid to expand yourself, to step out of your comfort zone. That's where the joy and the adventure lie.

Oscar Peterson is the greatest living influence on jazz pianists today.

I'm always looking to create new avenues or new visions of music.

Wisdom corresponds to the future; it is philosophy.

I look for what's of value and extract that. I don't look to criticize.

Fact is that I played piano and performed, as a young kid, a Mozart piano concerto with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra . Don't forget I was only eleven-years-old and to be on the stage at that age had tremendous impact on me. Basically love for classical music and performing as a kid on the big stage probably led toward this decision, which meant that music is going to be my big love but also my profession.

When I was six, my best friend's parents bought him a piano. My mother noticed that every time I would go to his house, the first thing I would say to him was 'Levester' - His name was Levester - I said, 'Levester, can I go play your piano?' So, on my 7th birthday, my parents bought me a piano.

It's not exclusive, but inclusive, which is the whole spirit of jazz.

It's part of life to have obstacles. It's about overcoming obstacles; that's the key to happiness.

It's part of my nature. I get excited when trying out new stuff, whether it be an idea or equipment. It stimulates my juices.

When a human being is oppressed, the natural tendency is to feel anger. Jazz is a response to oppression that is not bullets and blood. Jazz is the expression of harmony ... and at the same time of hope and freedom.

I like to present something that the people haven't seen or haven't heard before. Otherwise they might as well just stay home and play the record.

Life is not about finding your limitations; it's about finding your infinity.

We are eternally linked not just to each other but our environment.

I like to be on the edge, on the cutting edge, or be into the unknown, into the territory where I have to depend on being in the moment and depending on my instincts.

There is no such thing as art," he said. "There is only this painting, this piece of music, that sculpture. And it either resonates with you or it doesn't." He paused for a moment and then added, "There is no such thing as art, there are only works."
... In those two moments, Antonioni taught me something profound.

I've never really been interested in doing a solo piano tour.

The spirit of jazz is the spirit of openness.

So in other words, we were constantly challenged to grow, and thats what a master does.

You make different colors by combining those colors that already exist.

Music happens to be an art form that transcends language

I hope that I can make good music out of whatever genre I go into. Just to prove to myself that I can.

It pulled me like a magnet, jazz did, because it was a way that I could express myself.

You can practice to attain knowledge, but you can't practice to attain wisdom.

Creativity and artistic endeavors have a mission that goes far beyond just making music for the sake of music

I feel a lot more secure about the directions I take, than I might have, had I not practiced Buddhism.

Music is not the only reason that I practice Buddhism anymore because it has affected my whole life.

While knowledge may provide useful point of reference, it cannot become a force to guide the future.

You can change your character and, at the same time, change your fortune.

You can practice to learn a technique, but I'm more interested in conceiving of something in the moment.

People are afraid to spend money now because they dont know how long theyre going to be working.

It's easy to get sidetracked with technology, and that is the danger, but ultimately you have to see what works with the music and what doesn't. In a lot of cases, less is more. In most cases, less is more.

Like no matter what happens, this would be the ultimate, they can make something positive happen.

We need to put into practice the idea of embracing other cultures. We need to be shaping the kind of world we want to live in instead of waiting for someone else or some other entities to do it for us.

People always want to protect what's really going on inside. They want to kind of make visible something that looks more pleasant than what may be happening inside of themselves.

When you struggle to reach for something you don't know, that's where most of the interesting stuff is.

I spent five years, at least, working with Miles. Together, we recorded ESP, Nefertiti, Sorcerer
and I can tell you; each of these albums instantly became jazz classics. Hey, we had Wayne Shorter playing tenor sax, Ron [Carter] on bass, Tony Williams played drums. That was great band we had.

You don't need the fame to be vital.

Miles' sessions were not typical of anybody else's sessions. They were totally unique.

If you're not judging what happens, then you're trusting what others are doing, what you're playing, and trusting what you're playing.And it can lead you to other ideas, to something maybe you hadn't expressed before.

I'm always interested in looking forward toward the future. Carving out new ways of looking at things.

When I was in my early teens, I remember coming to the conclusion that your life never ends.

But I have to be careful not to let the world dazzle me so much that I forget that I'm a husband and a father.

It is people's hearts that move the age.

My hope is that the music will serve as a metaphor for the actions taken by the inhabitants of this wonderful planet as a call for world harmony on all levels.

One thing that attracted me to Buddhism was the support for this larger vision of values.

All you have to do is play one note. But it needs to be the right note.

To my wife, I'm not Herbie Hancock the musician. I'm her husband. When I'm talking to a neighbor, I'm a neighbor. When I vote, I'm a citizen.

I wonder where she came from,
I wonder where she's gotta go.
Who's to say she's single
and who's to say she's on her own ...
Girls like that don't sleep alone

I got a chance to work with Miles Davis, and that changed everything for me, 'cause Miles really encouraged all his musicians to reach beyond what they know, go into unknown territory and explore. It's made a difference to me and the decisions that I've made over the years about how to approach a project in this music.

The first thing I ever heard about synthesizers, they were being used in rock.

The most valuable things in life are priceless. They are courage, compassion, wisdom, respect for ourselves and others, and a host of characteristics that we call the beauty of the human spirit.

Most people define themselves by what they do - 'I'm a musician.' Then one day it occurred to me that I'm only a musician when I'm playing music - or writing music, or talking about music. I don't do that 24 hours a day. I'm also a father, a son, a husband, a citizen - I mean, when I go to vote, I'm not thinking of myself as 'a musician.'

I don't go around, the way many musicians do, with earbuds in my ear listening to my iPod all day and just sticking my head in the music all the time.

Each human being exists because there's something they have to offer for the evolution of the universe that only they can fulfill.

The value of music is to be able to play one note at the right time in the right way.

It might be something as simple as saying the right word to the right person at the right time-and that could change the course of history. You never really know. But the whole thing is to work at the process of being in sync with the universe, so that everything will align at the proper time so that you can deliver that which is your life mission. And that's why we're here as individuals. And then there's our contribution to the collective. It makes a lot of sense, doesn't it?

When you talk about 'doing the work', that's the work I'm interested in. What can I contribute as a human being?

Forget about trying to compete with someone else. Create your own pathway. Create your own new vision.

Without wisdom, the future has no meaning, no valuable purpose.

Music isn't about music, it's about life.

Being vulnerable is allowing yourself to trust. That's hard for a lot of people to do. They feel a lot more secure if they kind of put walls around themselves. Then they don't have to trust anybody but themselves.

Take whatever happens and try to make it work.

I am not fundamentally a musician, I am fundamentally a human being.

My first Grammy wasn't even in a jazz category, but of course I was really excited. 'Rockit' was the beginning of kind of a new era for the whole hip-hop movement.

As a human being, I'm concerned about the world that I live in. So, I'm concerned about peace. I'm concerned about - about man's inhumanity to man. I'm concerned about the environment.

Globalization means we have to re-examine some of our ideas, and look at ideas from other countries, from other cultures, and open ourselves to them. And that's not comfortable for the average person.