CELEBRATING HERBIE HANCOCK

American keyboard player and bandleader Herbie Hancock (1940) achieved critical success as a perceptive, harmonically provocative jazz pianist in the 1960s, then went on to gain wide popularity as a leader of electric jazz-rock groups. One of these, Hancock’s band The Headhunters, ushered in a new era of jazz that appealed to a far wider audience, making jazz listeners out of rhythm and blues fans, and vice versa. From the 1973 album ‘Head Hunters’ through to Hancock’s late 1970s work, the influence of Hancock and The Headhunters on the history of funk and jazz funk cannot be overstated. On October 26, 2023, the world celebrates the 50th anniversary of the legendary album ‘Head Hunters’. Stingray DJAZZ pays attention to this celebration and Hancock’s contribution to the history of jazz funk by broadcasting Hancock’s 1974 German television appearance with The Headhunters, playing Palm Grease, Sly, Butterfly, Spank-A-Lee, and Chameleon. Herbie Hancock (keys) is joined by Bennie Maupin (saxophones), Paul Jackson (electric bass), Mike Clark (drums) and Bill Summer (percussion).