Jazz

"Chameleon" by Herbert Hancock, Paul Jackson, Harvey Mason, Bernie Maupin

Legendary composer, producer, and performer Herbie Hancock, winner of fourteen Grammy Awards, has been an integral pianist and innovator in jazz music for more than half a century. From performing piano concertos with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra as a child, to winning Album of the Year with a jazz album (first time in 43 years), Hancock has done it all.

“Chameleon” is the first track on the 1973 album, Head Hunters, the first platinum-selling (more than one million copies) jazz record. Its groundbreaking sounds attracted listeners at a faster pace than others in the genre, selling 500,000 units in under six months. It had taken Miles Davis’ Bitches Brew six years to sell as many copies.

The album stretched what many had considered jazz music to form a fusion with other musical styles. Hancock speaks of expanding his musical influences:

"At a certain point, I became a kind of musician that has tunnel vision about jazz. I only listened to jazz and classical music. But then, when I noticed that Miles Davis was listening to everything—I mean, he had albums of Jimi Hendrix, he had Beatles records, he had Rolling Stones, James Brown—I started to re-examine this kind of closed attitude that I had."

Key to the song’s crossover genre, and the driving element of the song, “Chameleon,” is the prominent bassline. Where it might sound like it’s being performed on an electric bass guitar, the recording is actually performed by two synthesizers. The bass guitar enters as the next musical line, itself sounding like an electric guitar, as it’s played in the bass’ high register.

Ethan Hein writes an informative analysis of the song’s bassline, with its “broken arpeggios” and “walkups.”

Head Hunters was selected by the Library of Congress to be preserved for its musical and cultural importance.

"The Girl from Ipanema" by Antônio Carlos Jobim, Vinicius de Moraes and Norman Gimbel

Perhaps bossa nova’s most popular song is “The Girl from Ipanema” (or “Garota de Ipanema”). The music was composed by Tom Jobim and the lyrics were written by Vinicius de Moraes in 1962. Norman Gimbel wrote the lyrics of the English version. It was recorded in 1964 by Jobim with tenor saxophonist Stan Getz, vocalist and guitarist João Gilberto, and vocalist Astrud Gilberto. The “Getz/Giberto” album has the duet of João’s Portuguese and Astrud’s English versions. However, the song’s single release contains only the latter. The album was a worldwide success earning multiple Grammy Awards, including Album of the Year in 1965.

"Mercy, Mercy, Mercy" by Joe Zawinul

Jazz piano legend Joe Zawinul was a composer, performer, electronic keyboard innovator, and band co-leader who left his enduring mark on music through the songs he wrote and in collaborations with the likes of Wayne Shorter, Miles Davis, Jimi Hendrix, Aretha Franklin, Jaco Pastorius and “Cannonball” Adderley.