June 16, 2010

The Chameleon goes to Cantaloupe Isle and beats da drum

Herbie Hancock is my favourite jazz artists: one of the few (along with Miles Davis and Ella Fitzgerald) of whose work I've tried to collect as much as possible, instead of just a broad and representative sample.

In 1983 Hancock had a decidedly non-jazzy hit in the dancy single "Rockit," which was also one of the first songs to prominently feature scratch and turntablism. (Despite his jazz roots, Hancock was a seminal synthesizer artist, and famously appeared with Thomas Dolby, Howard Jones, and Stevie Wonder at the 1985 Grammy Awards to perform a synthesizer medley.)

YouTube has blocked embedding of this video, but you can always watch it over there.

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