Herbie Hancock has had a long and distinguished career as a jazz musician. He’s always taken more interest in cover art than many musicians. These are some of the most interesting album covers spanning Herbie’s 61-year career as a recording artist.

On with the show this is it:

This early cover shows the young pianist looking defiant while standing in the middle of a Manhattan street. I hope they stopped traffic, but I doubt that Blue Note Records had the juice to do so.

The next cover has a Miles Davis Bitches Brew vibe to it but it’s not by the same artist. Robert Springett executed the cover artwork for Sextant.

Herbie goes to space on the cover of this follow up to the massive hit, Head Hunters.

The cover of Mr. Hands is an excellent exercise in surrealism by photographer Bob Seidemann. The hands have it; make that Mr. Hands.

David Ross’ cover art for Magic Windows is downright, well, magical.

This post was inspired by a previous ACA post about Herbie Hancock’s BFF Wayne Shorter, so I thought I’d throw this more sedate 1997 cover into the mix.

In lieu of the Head Hunters cover, I give you the whole damn album: