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.’ Herbie Hancock Read Quote
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. Herbie Hancock Read Quote
I’m always interested in looking forward toward the future. Carving out new ways of looking at things. Herbie Hancock Read Quote
It’s not easy to play in a framework that requires simplicity and to tastefully find ways to interject the kind of freedom that we have in playing jazz. Herbie Hancock Read Quote
One thing that sticks in my mind is that jazz means freedom and openness. It’s a music that, although it developed out of the African American experience, speaks more about the human experience than the experience of a particular people. Herbie Hancock Read Quote
I hope that I can make good music out of whatever genre I go into. Just to prove to myself that I can. Herbie Hancock Read Quote
Miles’ sessions were not typical of anybody else’s sessions. They were totally unique. Herbie Hancock Read Quote
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. Herbie Hancock Read Quote
Each human being exists because there’s something they have to offer for the evolution of the universe that only they can fulfill. Herbie Hancock Read Quote
