Herbie Hancock interview: ‘I look forward to what AI could mean’ could mean for creative music

As you’d expect to find on the website of a musical legend, 83-year-old jazz maestro Herbie Hancock’s page lists his extensive discography (41 studio albums starting from 1962), his numerous awards (14 Grammys, 34 nominations) and his punishing tour schedule (which finds him in India this fortnight on his third tour here).

Hancock’s website also, somewhat unusually, includes a glossary of electronic instruments, describing the capabilities of the gear that he’s used over the decades, ranging from analog synthesizers to WLM organs.

That’s in keeping with Hancock’s unrelenting quest for the next new thing.

The keyboard player and composer – who has a degree in electrical engineering – has been in the spotlight ever since his debut album spawned the hit Watermelon Man. It was inspired by Hancock’s childhood memories of a fruit vendor riding his wagon over the cobblestones of a Chicago alleyway. Even though it was an instrumental tune, recorded without lyrics, the joyous melody prompts listeners almost instinctively to sing out the lines, “Hey, Watermelon man.”

Evidence of Hancock’s instinct for innovation is evident on the version of the same song that he recorded a decade later on his...

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