Herbert Jeffrey "
Herbie"
Hancock (born April 12, 1940) is an American pianist, keyboardist, bandleader, composer and actor. Starting his career with
Donald Byrd, he shortly thereafter joined the
Miles Davis Quintet where Hancock helped to redefine the role of a jazz
rhythm section and was one of the primary architects of the
post-bop sound. He was one of the first jazz musicians to embrace synthesizers and
funk music. Hancock's music is often melodic and accessible; he has had many songs "cross over" and achieved success among pop audiences. His music embraces elements of funk and
soul while adopting freer stylistic elements from
jazz. In his jazz improvisation, he possesses a unique creative blend of jazz, blues, and modern classical music, with harmonic stylings much like the styles of
Claude Debussy and
Maurice Ravel.