Herbie Hancock was born in Chicago in 1940. At eleven, he performed a Mozart concerto movement with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. In an interview preserved by the National Endowment for the Arts, Hancock explained that he studied pre-engineering for two years before switching to composition.
Trumpeter Donald Byrd brought him into a professional setting in 1961, and Hancock released *Takin' Off* the following year. In 1963, he joined Miles Davis's group, working alongside musicians including Wayne Shorter, Ron Carter and Tony Williams. That period placed him within a close musical partnership in which several distinctive players contributed to the sound.
His recording career continued through the funk-oriented *Head Hunters* in 1973 and "Rockit," made with Material a decade later. Other collaborations included work with Gambian musician Foday Musa Suso. The NEA's account also records his original-score Oscar for *'Round Midnight* in 1987 and the 2008 Album of the Year Grammy for *River: The Joni Letters*.
Teaching became another continuing strand. Hancock's official biography discusses his involvement with the jazz institute established in 1986, including educational activities and competition judging, and describes him as a co-founder of San Francisco's Bayview Hunters Point Center for Arts & Technology, known as BAYCAT, which connects arts and technology training with opportunities for young people. His public biography also explicitly discusses his experience as an African American musician.
The jazz institute took Hancock's name in January 2019, having previously been named for Thelonious Monk. Its institutional history describes a college program begun in 1995 and a tuition-free two-year program based at UCLA. The institute also records a 2007 India tour with Hancock and Wayne Shorter that combined performance and education.
