Today is the great Herbie Hancock's birthday. I would love to share with you some of his incredible music. By no means is this an exhaustive list, just some of his jams that I love across the board. Undeniable to say that he's MORE than a legend. He changed the game over & again

Herbie's music has such range, from his early session work, compositions, Blue Note material etc... I wanna start in the mid 70s during his funk era - he pushed the funk meter so far liek almost nobody. He's "Hang Up Your Hang Ups" from 1975

Next up is the INCREDIBLE "Rain Dance" from 1973's Sextant. It's him with his Mwandishi band and Herbie's ARP 2600 introduction makes my brain melt. Every. Single. Time.

Speaking of his Mwandishi era let's take it back to 1971 with his "Fat Albert Rotunda" album. Lots of hip-hop heads will recognize "Fat Mama" from the very fist bars, but it's such a jam all the way through

In 1980 Herbie recorded with the late great Jaco Pastorius for the "Mr. Hands" album which includes the incredible, sublime and emotive "Textures"

Only 3 years later Herbie revolutionized the game again. It was in 1983 when he released "Rockit" with Bill Laswell and, to put it lightly, when I heard this for the first time my whole world was completely flipped upside down.

I think it's safe to say that nothing was the same after "Rockit" came out. And not only is it very easy to argue this was the first song to bring Hip-Hop to both the mainstream, but also to highbrow "respectable" music. Way before "Rock This Way" for sure.

Also the way that Herbie was able to recognize the musicianship and merit of scratching as an instrument with such percussive measure in the form of the great DJ http://D.ST  - the scratching is what makes the song IMO

The original video always freaked me out as a kid (creepy AF) but the video that REALLY blew my head was the live performance of Rockit at the Grammys that year. EVERY KID was talking about that the next day in school...

Now let's take it way back to 1965 with the title track from Herbie's Blue Note album "Maiden Voyage" with Ron Carter, Freddie Hubbard and Tony Williams. What a LINEUP! This song is so gorgeous and sublime...

Several years later Kellee Paterson put vocals to this already incredible tune for a rendition of it on her 1973 album on Black Jazz Records. You must hear this version.

Not too long afterwards, the GODFATHER of Vocalese Eddie Jefferson added lyrics to Herbie's seminal tune "Chameleon" - a funky and very menacing rendition of this jazz funk classic. Such a HUGE tune

Since we're there, let's GO THERE. Here's "Chameleon" a tune that really kind of needs no introduction. This is Herbie with his ensemble The Head Hunters off the album of the same name

Now I definitely want to talk about Head Hunters quite a bit because this is a REALLY IMPORTANT ALBUM. Like REALLY REALLY IMPORTANT. It's possible to say that it's era changing, with things being BEFORE HH and AFTER HH. As a kid I would just stare at this album cover

The incredible lineup of Head Hunters was Herbie, with Bennie Maupin, Paul Jackson & Harvey Mason. All giants in their own right. Later, Mason would leave for a solo career but the group would add Mike Clark and P-Funk alum Dwayne "Blackbird" McKnight for their debut album

That album kicks off in an instantly recognizable manner, with a song that's written into the DNA of Hip-Hop, "God Made Me Funky" featuring The Pointer Sisters on vocals. You know this tune!

Although honestly my favorite song on this album is "If You've Got it, You'll Get it" and NOT because KRS-One and Bumpy Knuckles used it... But because it's so damn funky. Bennie Maupin's baritone sax and Blackbyrd's guitars are ON FIRE.

Bennie Maupin's distinctive sax tones also played a huge part of "I Remember I Made You Cry" from their second album, which obviously caught the ear of Q-Tip hahaha...

But I digress, let's get back to Herbie and Head Hunters. Another one which funk heads will instantly recognize. Huge huge tune across the board.

What maybe a lot of people may not realize is that Herbie originally composed and recorded Watermelon Man over a decade prior to Head Hunters, in 1962 for his debut album "Takin' Off"

The original version actually became a big hit and had lots of crossover appeal and was covered by a ton of artists. One of the most notable was the great Mongo Santamaria who did his Latin boogaloo thing with this important composition

Another incredible take on this was by the incomparable Fred Wesley & The JB's from the mid 70s. For my money it's the funkiest version that exists, even funkier than Herbie's Head Hunter's version

And that's maybe one of the things about Herbie's compositions, is that they're timeless, covered, reimagined, reinvented years and years later, over and again. Take his 1965 "Dolphin Dance" right here

The amazing Ahmad Jamal paid tribute to Herbie by covering "Dolphin Dance" on his very important 1970 album "Awakenings" - which Common used for his landmark tune "Resurrection" 25 years later

Herbie was such an innovator and was never scared to approach new sounds and new ideas and I think his 1978 album "Sunlight" really showcases that. His embrace of contemporary dance rhythms but still retaining jazz ethos is evident on "Come Running To Me"

"Come Running To Me" is one of the craziest Dilla sample flips EVER to me by the way... Also from that album is a dancefloor CLASSIC "I Thought It Was You" which I play in my sets to this day

Herbie collaborated with Japanese jazz singer Kimiko Kasai the following year for this beefed up, super groovy disco version of the same song. I play this one all the time!

Speaking of COVER VERSION, Herbie wasn't afraid to touch other people's songs either, as he did here in 1996 covering Nirvana's "All Apologies" and truly making this song transcend into another world.

Anyway, I can go on for days and days but I have to wash my hands again haha. But I hope you enjoy this Herbie Hancock Birthday Tribute Thread and HAPPY BIRTHDAY HERBIE - We love you and are so thankful for the gift you have given to the world!