good evening from los angeles, i'm tavis smiley. tonight a conversation with herby hancock who just last month was awarded a lifetime achievement honor by the jazz foundation of america to go along with all his other accolades including 14 grammys with more than 50 years of music to his credit. herby hancock has just wrictte " "herby hancock: possibilities," which traces his childhood in chicago to his collaboration with miles dave toys his commitment to budapest -- davis to his commitment to buddhism. a conversation with the incomparable hershby hancock coming up right now. ♪ ♪

and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. ♪dczñ herby hancock has embraced just about every musical genre possible from jazz to fusion to funk to hip-hop. now after more than 50 years as a musician and composer, he's considered one of the towering forces in american music with 14 grammy awards and, of course, a lifetime achievement honor from the jazz foundation of america. he's now written finally a new memoir. it's titled d "hersheby hancock

possibilities," and talks about the influence of jazz great miles davis. let's look at the two of them performing together. ♪ ♪ ♪ >> what do you make of the

blessing of being such a long distance runner? >> i'm just glad we're still here. >> when you see that clip, though, herby, when the clip was playing, made the joke in studio, who's the skinny guy on the piano? >> i don't know him. >> you've been at this a longgd time, hesrbie. >> to capture my life into 332 pages, that's a lot of stuff that's happened along the way. i mean, so many different directions. >> yeah. i love -- i love that call the book "possibilities." why did you come to that? >> i was just thinking about

life itself, being a human being and -- i know that in my life there have been so many possible choices i could have made. but those choices that i made resulted in all those different experience experiences that i've had that helped my life to evolve. but everybody has the ability to make choices. a lot of times we don't. we just respond to external circumstances and make ourselves in a way victims of something out of ourselves. >> uh-huh. >> but if you sit back and just wait a second and try to make intelligent choices, the result may be completely different. >> yeah. >> hope is to do what you can in order to make your life work regardless of the circumstances. >> yeah. to your basis point choices, we

all make choices. we all make good choices. we all make bad choices. i was completely blown away by your truth and your transparency. as many times as i've hung out with you and been certain plays with you and had you on the set, the radio show, i learned stuff about you that i didn't know. i said, why would herbie be so truthful and transparent at this age? his life when you don't have to be, herbie? >> right. i know exactly what you're talking about. i had a substance abuse problem for a few years. and it -- you know where it came from? part of my dna is being curious, and it served me well. sometimes curiosity kills the cat, are right? >> uh-huh. uh-huh. >> i did this one thing, and i

didn't do right away, i said i've never done. had to do with cocaine. and i wasn't a foreigner to cocaine. look when i was born, and i was coming through the '60s. so -- what was the idea of smoking cocaine? everybody saying it was so dangerous. you know, it's not heroin. and what is it they're talking about? i said, let me see what that is, and then i'll know. i had no idea about the doorway of addiction and how that functions. i learned the hard way. but thanks to my family and thanks to my practice of buddhism, that demon in my life, i conquered that sucker. the thing is, even though i was so ashamed -- nobody knows this about me -- i was so ashamed of this, i really tried to shove it

out of existence for my life as though it never happened. that's being in denial. and that never helps anybody. and that's really a dangerous attitude to take. it can fester and sfwourn somethi -- and turn into something that's worse. thanks to my family, they helped me to realize that here is a way to talk about what happened to me that i could -- talking buddhism -- turn poison into medicine. because maybe because i won that battle, i might be able to encourage someone else who wato give up that can never give up because you you can win the battle again your demons against any addiction. >> see, when i read that, when i read that part of the book, my heart just dropped. my heart dropped. i also you quickly entered into a space of gratitude.

dwrat feud o -- gratitude one, i knew other would be helped by you telling the story. i had an attitude of gratitude for your sharing it, number one. the other part of that gratitude was being so grateful that you were able to slay that dragon, conquer that demon, or so many of your other jazz peers have not. and then i started thinking i don't need to run the list down to you of all the jazz greats who were taken out by their addictions. and herbie hancock is still here. >> we're all human beings, right? we face different challenges and different kinds of sufferings and pain. that's part of being a human being. this is one of mine, and it was a big one.

but we're capable of winning. each time. even if winning is learning, it's a -- if i look at it as how can i take this -- again, we're talking about choices. instead of just succumbing to something, thinking about how can i turn this into something of value. in book is a way of turning it into value. >> you have a great line, and i'm probably going to mess it up. i think it's something like -- trying to remember now -- our imperfection is a part of our perfection. >> yeah. something like that. i don't remember -- no -- >> it's a great line, though. the point is it's the imperfect pieces of us that help us to overcome, to become more perfect. in other words, there's some good in the work and evil in the best of us. you got to work at it. >> right. if we didn't have those two sides, life would be dull. i mean, who would want a life

where you have no challenges to overcome? how could you grow? like no pain, no gain. >> yeah. let me move to of the other things you covered here. i can't do justice to all this, even in a full show. you talk candidly(rax again abo your hesitation, your am birthday la-- your ambivalence about going electric. it's said, "herbie and i have been brothers since before electricity." q cracks me up. >> me, too. >> you talk, though, about your own reservations, with embracing that electric thing. >> yeah. i mean, throughout my hear, there have been these situations where i've -- had this question in my mind. same thing happened with the electric piano with miles davis, you know. but i learned something from dealing with that, see. in the case of electronics,

because also i was an engineering major in comments, so i wasn't afraid of electric instruments. electric piano, i mean, that was one of the first. opinion i've heard from other musicians at this time with pianos, it's not a real instrument, it's a toy, it's the real thing. it's not pure. when i went into the recording studio with miles to make a record, and there was no acoustic piano, i said, "miles, what do you want me to play?" she'd, "the play that over there." in the corner with the fender electric piano. i had heard of them, but i'd never played one. so i'm looking and thinking, he wants me to play that toy. i turned it on, and i played a chord. it sounded pretty.

i said, this is nice. and it had a volume control, acoustic piano doesn't have a volume control enthusiasm meant tony william, young, genius drummer, who was bashing my solo and wayne's solo, like behind the piano solo he had to back down so i could be heard. >> yeah. >> well, i kept turning up the volume. he could continue back -- but i learned something there. i learned not to accept the opinions of whrth you haven't experienced it yourself unless it's something that's dangerous. which i learn good that, too. >> you mentioned you were an engineering student. so was your beloved story. every one of us has tragedy in our lives. i've learned so much about you,

all the years i've known you. say a word about your sister and how you navigated that loss. >> when i finished the film score for around midnight, i needed a vacation. so i was planning to meet my family in one of the greek isles. and when i actually arrived, my wife and my daughter flew over to meet me. when i arrived, i found out over dinner in the hotel restaurant, i got a phone call from my manager. anyway, i found out at the same time i was flying there, my sister actually got killed in a plane crash going into dallas/ft. worth. and she was passionate about music, you know. she taught herself to play guitar. she wrote lyric to some of my songs, and some recorded by earth, wind, and fire.

a book of tmgs. she wanted to be a singer. and i wasn't that forgiving about the fact that her intonation wasn't that great. and i didn't -- i guess i didn't really know how to be truly diplomatic at that time. but it kind of discouraged her and hurt her when i said -- she put it to me like, do you think you could be a professional singer and make it? >> she asked you outright. >> yeah, that's like pinning me up again the wall. yeah. and i had -- had to no. >> yeah. >> but -- >> you. bad about that? >> i feel bad about that, yes, i do wish i had a little more diplomatic. i mean, i'm proud that i was honest. >> sure. >> but there are a lot of ways to express that honesty. >> yeah. what have you learned about how

to be truthful and diplomat sonic i'll use your word. how about -- over the years, what have you learn good that balance? >> okay, first of all, i'm a goodwill ambassador to unesco. >> yeah. >> so you know. a little more diplomatic. i'm not a person that lies. i don't just fill people with stuff just because they want to hear it. i'm actually proud of that. without coloring this question too much, is there one thing, a couple of thing that you would highlight for me in crib notes about possibilities that you experienced or happened to you in your childhood that have such a -- that draw such a direct linear line to who you've become all these years later? of there one experience or something you wanted to share from when you were a child about this experience? >> there were a lot of thing.

>> yeah. >> that's really what the book -- >> exactly. >> there's a lot of thing that have come into play. some of the things have been negative, and some have been positive. but it's those things that have brought me up to this point today. but when i was 6, my mother noticed that whenever i would go to my best friend's apartment, that i would always ask him -- the first thing i would say is, can i play your piano? his folks bought him a piano on his 6th birthday. my mother knows i seemed to be interested in piano. by the way, i have no idea of what i could play. i didn't know how to plea piano. chopsticks? >> you were drawn to it, though. >> she noticed that. she told my father, look, on herbi herbie's 7th birthday, we got to get this boy a piano.

so they did. now i realize it was a piano for the family, but my birthday of the occasion. and after -- birthday was the okay. and after my brother and oldest sister jean and myself started taking piano lessons, and after about three years, they kind of -- 3.5 years, they petered out of that. but i continued on. one of the reasons is because this is -- again, showing you how thing kind of link together. when i was 4 years old, my older brother was 7. that's the huge difference. so it meant when it came to sports, i couldn't hold not only football, i could barely hold a softball. i was like a mascot for the team. [ laughter ] >> i mean, they were always nice

to me. >> that's funny. you were the mascot. >> right. >> you couldn't do nothing else. >> right. i -- they could have had a dog. >> yeah. wow. >> they had a little brother. and they were always nice to me, you know. but i just knew i wasn't good enough. >> yeah. >> well, when it came to the piano, i was as good as my brother. i didn't go back to sports. i stayed on the piano, and i got a second piano teacher, mrs. jordan. she was really the one because the first taught me how to read. and mrs. jordan said that when she heard me play something. and then she said, "i want to play something for you." she played choppin with this touch and the sound that was so gorgeous and -- and my eyes popped open, and i said, can you teach me to play like that? she said, "i can try." but the idea of touch has really

been important to me. getting the sound on the instrument. i think wayne probably talked about that -- >> he did on this very show. and one hears that when they listen to you, one sees it when you play. that touch thing is still so -- >> yeah, i like that. >> you had surgery on one of your -- >> as a matter of fact, yeah. and -- i don't even know if that's in the book. lisa dickie helped me write the book. she got mad because i forgot to tell her about it. go you forgot. i happen to know that -- >> it's one of three things that i forgot to tell her. anyway, i had a tumor on this finger at one time, and it just got worse and worse. and i had a concert coming up, but i went to the doctor. he said, "i can't tell if it'sbine or malignant. but it feels like it's benign." but it would have to be removed

because it was interfering with my playing. so i had been practicing buddhism for several years at the time. one night, i chanted for ten hours. it was the night before the operation. he did the operation the next day -- by the way, i felt great. i felt confident, i wasn't scared. that's the great thing about buddhism, it really lifts your spirits. it feels solid. anyway, he did something he never thought of before. he knew that i had to bend my finger in order to play. he figured out the best thing to do when he cuts is to cut like a "w" not across the lines, but on the edges because if you cut across the lines, it would hurt. >> oh, yeah. when you bring your finger down. got you. >> now i've got a whole hand --

>>. >> yeah, yeah. >> so but what happened was, he said it would -- when you get cut like that, a lot of times your body shuts down. and even though the anesthetic wears off and maybe a few days before the -- it may be a few years days before the feeling comes back. after the week, the feeling wasn't back yesterday. the doctor said, "give it another week." it took another week and a half, and it still hadn't come back, and the doctor said, well, the truth is, this is beyond my capabilities to determine that. he said, it's quite possible that it could never -- that it would never come back. he said that would be highly unusual. so i went over to the piano after that to say, okay, what would happen if i only had nine

fingers available? i went to the piano and just started improvising something. automatically, this finger, fourth finger, reached for the notes that normally the little finger would reach for. >> wow you! >> i didn't even have to think about it. i said, i can do this. >> yeah. >> a few days later i had to go to san francisco to rehearse for this -- a show with a lot of different artists. and i had to play a duet with the young pea an -- pianist from l.a. and he's a technical genius -- i've got nine foirngs work with. anyway, when we started to rehearse the first tune, updated the sample. no feeling in this finger. all of a sudden after playing a couple of notes, this finger started -- that little finger started to tingle. and within about three minutes,

all the feeling of back. >> sometimes you just got -- feeling was back. >> sometimes you just got to touch it. sometime just got the to touch it. >> herbie hancock -- >> i had to let it go and say, i can do this regardless. and i think that's what did it. >> herbie has a soft touch whether he has nine fingers or ten fingers. it's going sound good. i have not even done justice to this book. i've tried to highlight a few years thing in it, but it's a wonderful read. it's called "possibilities." i'm glad he got around it writing it. "possibilities," herbie hancock about a rich life and wonderful legacy. thank god, still ongoing. i think you'll enjoy -- enjoy the read. >> i just hope it's encouraging. >> oh, it is, it is, it is. >> i'm the same guy i was, you know, in chicago as a little kid on the south side in the ghetto. >> you're a little more proficient now. >> and i learned a few years

thing. i learned a few thing. i'm the same person. i mean, we don't have to change from being the person that you have always been since childhood. has nothing to do with being happy in your life. you don't have to change into something other than yourself. >> yeah. >> to be happy. that's the idea of possibilities. it just means that this life that we have is a real treasure. >> yeah. and the most important things that are part of the happiness that one can achieve is not getting the perfect spouse, getting the car and the house, it's not that. it's the things that are priceless -- courage, compassion, wisdom, integrity. those thing.

there are lessons that i've learned from others about exactly those subjects. >> i'm always honored to have you on this program. i walked into my producer's of the other day and saw a roster of folk coming on. and guess whose name of up there other than yours? jo joni merchle. i'm on cloud nine -- joni mitchell. i'm on cloud nine. herbie hancock, thank you for being on. my pleasure. thank you. that's our show for tonight. thanks for watching, and as always, keep the faith. ♪ >> for more information on today's show, visit tavis smiley at pbs.org. hi, i'm tavis smiley. join me next time for a conversation about bias and how to combat it with nate parker and a psychologist. that's next time. we'll see you then.

and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you.

>> rose: welcome to the program, first up the president's visit to china. we talk with edward luce, orville schell and cheng li. >> don't forget that, you know, the central plank of president obama's foreign policy, perhaps his legacy, the thing he most wants to be his legacy is the pivot to asia. which he announced, well, which hillary clinton, then secretary of state announced in president obama's first term. and the chinese, even before xi jinping took on the top job, the chinese see this as a thinly veiled strategy of u.s. containment. and xi jinping has been more explicit aboutee seeing it as such. >> rose: we continue with tony fadell, the c.e.o. of nest. and we talk about the fast developing internet of things.