Herbie Hancock’s 1962 tune “Watermelon Man” brought a funky groove to jazz and even cracked the pop charts. Hancock built it on a catchy piano riff inspired by a street vendor’s call from his Chicago youth. Latin jazz percussionist Mongo Santamaría heard it, covered it in 1963, and turned it into a Top 10 pop hit – spreading Hancock’s melody far and wide. Today “Watermelon Man” is a jazz standard, celebrated for its cool, toe-tapping groove and as a crossover classic that blended jazz with soul.
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