good evening from los angeles, i'm tavis smiley. tonight a conversation with herbie 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. herbie hancock has just written his memoir. it's titled "herbie hancock: possibilities possibilities," which traces his life from his childhood in chicago to his collaboration with miles davis, to his commitment to buddhism. we're glad you joined us. a conversation with the incomparable herbie hancock coming up right now. ♪

>> by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. hersheybie hancock has embraced just about every music am genre from jazz to fusion -- musical genre from jazz to fusion to funk. now he's considered one of the towering forces in american music with 14 grammy award and, of course a lifetime achievement honor from the jazz foundation of america. he's written finally a new

memoir titled "herbie hancock: possibilities." the it shines a light on the influence of jazz great miles davis. let's take a 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 i'm still here. >> yeah. when you see that clip though, herbie, when the clip was play, made the joke in studio, who's the skinny guy on the piano? >> i don't know him. >> that is a long time, herbie. >> yep. yep. like 50 0 years. i can't even count up that high anymore. you know, it's a long career and a great, amazing journey. you know, i was surprised. when i wrote this book, to capture my whole life into 332 pages, there's a lot of stuff that happened along the way. i mean, it's so many different directions. >> yeah. >> i love -- i love that you call the book "possibilities." why did you come to that?

>> i was just thinking about life itself -- being a human being, in my life there are so many possible choices i could have made. those choices i made resulted in all of those different experiences that i've had that have helped me 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 outside of ourselves. but if you sit back and just wait a second and try to make intelligent choices the result may be completely different. >> yeah. >> the whole points to be able to do what you can in order to make your life work. >> yeah. >> regardless of the circumstances. >> yeah. to your point about choices, we

all make choices. we all make good choices. we all make bad choices. i was completely -- i was blown away by your truth and your transparency. as many times as i've hung out with you and been around the world and certain places with you and had you on the set, on tv, on my radio show, i learned stuff about you here that i didn't know. and i -- i said to myself why would herbie be so truthful and transparent at the this age in 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 -- do you know where it came from? part of my dna is being curious. and it's served me well. sometimes curiosity kills the cat. right? >> uh-huh.

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

existence for from my life as though it never happened. you know, that's being in denial. and that never help anybody. that's a dangerous attitude to take. it can fester and turn into something that's worse. anyway, thanks to my family, they helped me to realize here is a way to talk about what happened to me that i could -- we're saying buddhism, turn poison into medicine. maybe because i won that battle i might be able to encourage someone else to give up you know to never give up because you can win this battle against your demons of any kind of addiction. >> when i read that in the book, my heart dropped. my heart dropped. i also quickly entered into a

space of gratitude. gratitude, one, because you told. i was grateful that you shared it because i knew you'd say this -- that others might be helped by your 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 where so many of your jazz peers have not. i started thinking, i ain't got the to run the list down to you. you know them. all the jazz greats who were taken out by their addictions. and herbie hancock is still here. >> still here. you know, we're all human beings, right. we face different challenges and different suffering and pain. that's part of being a human being. this was one of mine and it's a

big one. but we're capable of winning each time. even if winning is learning, it's -- if you look at the 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. and this book of a way of me turning that into something of value. >> you have a great line here, and i'm probably going to mess it up. i think it's something like -- i'm trying to remember now -- our imperfection is a part of our perfection. >> yeah. i did say something like that. i don't remember -- yeah -- >> a great line, though. the point is that it's those imperfect pieces of us that help us to overcome, to become more perfect. in other words there's good in the worst of us and evil in the best of us. you've got to work at it. >> yeah. if we didn't have those sides, life would be dull.

who would want a life where you have though challenges to overcome? how could you grow? like no pain, no gain. >> uh-huh yeah. let me move on -- there's so many things you covered in here. i can't do justice to all this even in a full show. you talk candidly again about your -- your hesitation your ambivalence about going electric book -- quincy jones in the back of the book -- speaking of electric. i love q. he says "herbie and i have been brothers since before electricity." q. cracks me up man. >> me, too. >> you talk, though, about your own reservations about embracing that electric thing. >> yeah. throughout my life, there have been situations where i've had this question in my mind. same thing with the electric piano with miles davis. you know but i learned something from dealing with that. so -- in the case of electronic

because also i was an engineering major in college. so i wasn't afraid of electric instruments. but the electric piano, the fenner electric piano that was one of the first. and the opinions i heard from other musicians pianists, were it's not a real instrument. it's a toy. it's not the real thing. it's not pure. and 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?" he said, "the play that over there." in the corner with the fender rose electric piano. i had hear of them, but i'd never played one. 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. the piano doesn't have a volume control. that meant that tony williams the young genius drummer who really ofwas behind the solo behind the piano solo, he had to back down so i could be heard. >> yeah. >> i could turn up the volume. he wouldn't have to back down. he could continue. so i thought -- i learned something there. i learned not to accept the opinions of others when you haven't experienced it yourself unless it's something that's dangerous which i learned about that, too. >> you mentioned that you were an engineering student. so was your beloved sister. >> right. >> and the tell the story -- every one of us has tragedy that comes in our lives.

again, i learned so much about you reading this book, "possibilities." talk about your sister and how you navigate that loss. >> when i finished the film score for "around midnight," the i needed a vacation. so i was planning to meet my family in an sloond --island, one of the greek isles. when i actually arrived my wife and daughter flew over to meet me. when i arrived i found out over dinner in the hotel restaurant i got the a phone call from my manager. what i found out of at the same time that i was flying there, my sister actually got the killed in a plane crash going into dallas/ft. worth. and she was passionate the about music you know. she taught herself to play guitar. she wrote lyrics to some of my songs. and some recorded by earth, wind, and fire, booker t and the

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

to be truthful and diplomatic? i'll use your words. what -- over the years, who have you learned about that? >> first of all, i'm a goodwill ambassador to unesco. >> yeah. so you know. >> yeah. i've learned a lot. i'm not a person that lies. i don't just fill people with stuff just because they want to hear it. >> right. >> you know, and i'm -- i'm actually proud of that. >> yeah. without coloring this question too much is there one thing, a couple things that you would highlight for me in your crib 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? was there one experience or something you want to share when you were a child that -- there is no herbie hancock if there

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

so they did. -- piano. so they did. now i realized it was a piano for the family. my birthday of the occasion-- my birthday of the occasion. my brother and youngest sister jean and i, we all started taking piano lessons. and after about three years they kind of -- 3.5 years they kind of petered out of that, but i continued on. and one of the reasons i continued on is because -- again, this is showing how thing link together. >> uh-huh. >> when i was 4 years old my older brother was 17177. that's a huge difference. it meant when it came to sports, i couldn't hold not only football, i could barely hold a softball. i was like the mascot for the team. [ laughter ] >> i mean they were always nice

to me. >> that's funny. you were the mascot. you couldn't do nothing else. >> right. they could have had a dog. >> yeah. wow. >> they had the little brother, and i then they were nice to me. 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 the a second 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 chopin with this touch and the sound that was so gorgeous. 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 in getting the sound on the instrument. nothing short of -- >> one hears that when he listens to you, watch you play, the touch thing is so -- >> yeah. i like that. >> you had a surgery on one of your -- >> as a matter of fact, yeah. i don't even know if that's in the book. as a matter of fact, lisa dicky, who help me write the book, she got mad at me because i forgot to tell her -- >> you forgot to tell her yeah. i just happened to notice that. >> one of three things i needed to tell her. i had a tumor on this little 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's benign or malignant, but it feels like it's benign. it had to be removed because it was interfering with my playing.

and 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. well, he did the operation the next day, and it turned out -- by the way, i felt great. i felt confident. i wasn't scared. that's the great thing about buddhism. it kind of lifts your spirits. and you feel like -- solid. anyway, he did something that he never thought of before, he knew that i had to bend my morning play. he figured out the best thing for him to do when he sells is to cut like a "w" not across the line but because of -- if you cut across the lines it would hurt. >> yeah. you put your finger down. got you. >> right.

now i vhave that -- so 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 feeling comes back. well after a week the feeling wasn't back yet. i called the doctor and said give it another week. it took another week and a half, and it still hadn't come back. the doctor said the truth is this is beyond my capabilities to determine that. he said it's quite possible that it never -- it would never come back, but he said it would be highly unusual. i went over to the piano after

that that that. i said, okay, what would happen if i only had nine fingers available. i went to the piano and started improvising something. automatically this finger, fourth finger reached for the notes that normally the little fingers would reach for. i didn't have to think about it. >> wow! >> so i said, i can do this. a few days later, i had to go to san francisco to rehearse for this -- it was a show with a lot of different artists. and i had to play a duet with a young pianist from l.a. danny zeitman was the name. a technical genius. now i've got the nine fingers to work with. anyway when we started to rehearse the first tune, up to this time, had 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 three minutes all the feeling was back. >> sometimes you've just got to touch it. >> yeah. >> sometimes you've just got to touch it. >> yeah. >> herbie hancock -- >> i had to let the it go you know. had to let the it go and say, i can do this regardless. >> yeah. >> i think that's what did it. >> herbie has a song "touch." whether he has nine fingers or ten fingers, it's going to sound good. i have not done justice to this book. i tried to highlight a few thing but it's a wonderful road. it's called "possibilities." i'm glad he got around to writing it. "possibilities," herbie hancock. about a rich life and legacy that's still ongoing. i think you'll enjoy the readment. >> i just hope it's encouraging to people. >> it is. it is. >> i'm the same guy i was in chicago as a little kid on the south side in the ghetto. >> you're a little more

proficient now. >> well, i learned a few thing. but i'm the same person. >> yeah. >> we don't have to change from being the person that you have always been since childhood. >> uh-huh. >> to have nothing to do with being happy in your life. you don't have to change into something other than yourself. >> yeah. >> to be happy. and 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 part of the happiness one can achieve is not getting the perfect spirals, getting the car and house, not that. it's the things that are pryless -- courage, compassion, wisdom, integrity. those kinds of things.

there are lessons 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 office the other day and saw a roster of folks coming up before the year is over. guess whose name i saw other than yours? joni mitchell. you know i'm on cloud nine. i have to talk to herbie and joni. "possibilities" is the new text. good to have you on, man. appreciate you. >> thank you. >> my pleasure. thanks for watching, and as always, keep the fate. >> for more information on today's show visit tavis smiley at pbs.org. hi, join me next time as we take a deep dive into what's grabbing the country's attention. that's next time. see you then.

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

>> rose: welcome to the program. we begin this evening with bernard-henri levy from paris talking about his country what happened and the meaning of the events in paris and the march on sunday. >> the general situation is that it is global attack, a global war, launched by these people of al-qaeda which is at the end of the day the same. and they are really launched global attack under our values and of the general and under democrat z but the new event the real event of yesterday is that democracy is back. france is back, europe is back