The Ethics of Jazz
Earlier this year, inventive jazz pianist Herbie Hancock '60 discussed “The Ethics of Jazz” as Harvard’s 2014 Norton Lecturer.
His six-lecture series is now available online:
- The Wisdom of Miles Davis
- Breaking the Rules
- Cultural Diplomacy and the Voice of Freedom
- Innovation and New Technologies
- Buddhism and Creativity
- Once upon a Time…
About Herbie Hancock ’60
After finishing his music education at Grinnell, Hancock was invited by Blue Note Records trumpet player Donald Byrd in 1961 to join Byrd's New York City band. It didn’t take long for Blue Note to offer Hancock a solo contract.
The rest is, of course, jazz history. Hancock's career includes a 5-year stint in the 1960s with what became known as Miles Davis’s "second great quintet;" an acclaimed discography on Blue Note; the popular 1970s Head Hunters funk album; and even an ‘80s scratch-driven single and MTV hit video, “Rocki..” Hancock won more than a dozen Grammys and an Oscar. He was feted in the 2013 Kennedy Center Honors. In 2010, he received a Grinnell College Alumni Award.