Herbie Hancock

Cool Fusion 1990

Herbie Hancock, LA 1990

In performance, have you ever gotten lost while improvising?

Sure, because I always challenge myself and push myself to my musical limits. I try things, and experiment. I get lost—a lot of people get lost—but the other guys in the group can tell if you’re lost and one of them will establish something to let you know where you are. I’ve gotten lost with the time, turned the beat around so that where I thought beat four was actually beat one. The drummer can usually flip me back around by playing certain things, maybe a crash at the beginning of a phrase. If it’s a matter of form, and if I can’t remember exactly what bar I am on, the bass player can usually straighten me out by certain standard approaches to the chord structure and I’ll hear it right away and know where I am. And I’ll know where they ....