Herbie Hancock's keys to freedom

Herbie Hancock says he is able to push musical boundaries thanks to his grounding in jazz. Photo / Supplied

Herbie Hancock is both a dude and a gentleman. He turns 71 this month, just before he arrives in New Zealand to play, and he's into his 50th year as a professional musician. In that time he's delved into the minds of everyone from hardcore jazz purists to heavyweight hip-hop heads with albums such as 1965 masterpiece Maiden Voyage - at this time he was still a disciple of Miles Davis - the unbridled and often heavy trip of Mwandishi in 1970, and Head Hunters' bombastic jazz-funk in 1973.

And over the years, says Hancock modestly, he's come across a lot of people who have embraced his early work after getting into his 80s fusion albums, like the industrial-hip-hop-electro of Future Shock which included crossover hit Rock It in 1983.

"That led them to exploring the stuff I did in the 60s. So it opened up a whole new musical appreciation of jazz and many people got to that through hip-hop. So it's an expansion of one's cultural and artistic viewpoint - and that's very valuable for any human being."

And though the keyboardist has had more than a handful of duds along the way, like the awful lightweight disco of 1979's Feets Don't Fail Me Now, his approach to music has always been about being adventurous. So much so he's been branded a rebel with his forays into funk, electro and other forms of fusion.

"I'm just a person who wants to try new things, just out of curiosity. And I have a desire to grow and expand; if you stay in one place you never learn anything - and you might as well not wake up in the morning. What would be the point?"

He says he is able to push musical boundaries, and work in many different styles, because of his grounding in jazz.

"It is inherently very flexible music. Jazz is a very open music and since its origin is not tied to a single culture I think that's one of the reasons jazz has not only been able to survive, but be appreciated by people around the world. Even though it grew out of slavery, people around the world can relate to it from their own humanity and human suffering and quest for freedom. Because jazz is freedom. It's free. And it represents freedom more than any other music that comes from America."

"So if I didn't have my jazz roots I wouldn't have been able to do records like Head Hunters or Rock It ... It's a great foundation."

It also helps that early on in his career he learned from rebellious jazz great Davis whom he played with throughout the 60s before being "dismissed" from the band because he was late back from his honeymoon. Not that Hancock holds a grudge.

"The first thing I learned from Miles was the importance of listening. Because I noticed that his improvisational style reflected what the drummer Tony Williams was doing, what I was doing on the piano, and what Ron Carter was doing on the bass, and he would listen to us and react to the things that we did - but he reacted in a very genius way.

"And he was a very courageous player," continues Hancock admiringly. "He would try things and explore anything. He encouraged us to practice on stage in front of the people rather than just in our rooms. And that is something that has never left me and that is one of the fundamental keys to growth and development."

It's clear, however, that these days music is not so much the centre-piece of his life. While he still tours, and releases albums, with his latest album The Imagine Project winning two Grammys this year to add to his overall tally of 14, he's finally being a family man.

"All my life I've always looked at myself as being a musician. But now I don't be seeing myself that way any more. Because that's a very typical way people perceive themselves, through what ever they've been associated with, or been rated successful at, or recognised for. But I started to realise, to my daughter I am her father, and to my wife I'm a husband, and to my next-door neighbour I'm a friend and citizen. And the thing that connects all of it is the fact I'm a human being. And the way I was perceiving myself before I was separating musicians from non-musicians, but there is no separation between me and anybody else, and that to me is a far grander view."

With this new viewpoint he says he no longer looks at music as a musician, but as a normal person which opens up new possibilities when it comes to playing and creating music. And that's the thinking behind The Imagine Project, an album that tackles the issue of globalisation, is sung in seven different languages, played in many diverse styles, and with more than 20 collaborators from around the world including everyone from pop chick Pink to Congolese greats Konono No 1.

On the face of it, it's Hancock's most ambitious project to date but while it's good, with flashes of brilliance like the cool grooves of Mali's Tinariwen and Los Lobos on Tamatant Tilay/Exodus, the overall impact is a little flaky. However, like it or not, you have to hand it to him for making a project of this scale happen for a cause he believes in.

"We need to do what ever we can to help design the type of globalised world that we actually want to live in - and the world we want our children's children to live in."

So, it seems, in taking a step back from music, the thing he loves doing most has taken on an even more powerful force.

He reckons it was about 12 years ago - around the time of his Future 2 Future album - that he first started to realise music should have "a purpose in serving the elevation of the human spirit". Although, he says, this thinking is also rooted in his conversion to Buddhism more than 40 years ago.

"Music is not just about making nice tunes. And for me music used to be the end, but for anything to be of use it has to serve humanity."

LOWDOWN

Who: Herbie Hancock
Playing: ASB Theatre, Auckland, April 26
Latest album: The Imagine Project, out now
Essential albums: Maiden Voyage (1965); Mwandishi (1970); Head Hunters (1973); VSOP: The Quintet (1977); Future Shock (1983); Future 2 Future (2001)

-TimeOut