Herbie Hancock

Bryan Bell was given the task of engineering a working synthesizer using all of Herbie Hancock’s favorite keyboards back in the early 1970s, well before MIDI. Herbie’s single instruction to Bryan was that he wanted all of the sounds of his 20 plus instruments powered and fully controlled by one unit to allow Herbie to make all of the musical changes on the entire bank of synthesizers. Bryan succeeded and went on to play a vital role as one of the music industry’s most innovative sound engineers. Bryan’s NAMM Oral History interview was completed on January 21, 2005 

Mike Clark helped established the funk-based drumming sound that emerged out of Oakland and the San Francisco Bay Area in the 1960s and 70s. In fact, his “The Funk Stops Here” was used for a radio ad before he recorded it with Herbie Hancock, as an original member of the Head Hunters. Mike’s creative and driving style has become an important part of funk drumming and his most famous beats can be heard on R&B and Hip Hop recordings by countless performers as samples.

Herbie Hancock’s career as a musician and performer spans six decades. He was a member of the legendary Miles Davis Quintet and super group Weather Report, and gave the world “Head Hunters” (jazz’s first platinum album) and other crossover hits such as the Grammy winning “Rockit.” Interestingly enough, what Herbie wanted to talk about most was his love for technology and how he has used electronic musical instruments to create new and different sounds.