Maiden
Voyage This is an undisputed
masterpiece featuring
the small group post-bop sound that would set
the standard for small jazz combos, including
that of Miles Davis. Featuring some of Hancock's
strongest compostitions ("Maiden Voyage",
"Eye of the Hurrican", "Little
One", and "Dolphin Dance") and
a group that was at its peak, particularly Freddie
Hubbard and tenor saxophonist George Coleman.
Empyrean
Isles Recorded before Maiden
Voyage, this less famous album is every
bit as good. Using only one horn (Freddie Hubbard
playing cornet rather than his usual trumpet)
the rhythm section of Hancock, Tony Williams,
and Ron Carter is given maximum space to stretch
out and interact. The only well known track
here is "Cantaloupe Island", but it's
all good.
Takin'
Off That anyone could have
pulled off a first solo album sounding this
mature is truly amazing. Featuring Dexter Gordon
on tenor and Freddie Hubbard on trumpet, it
packs the punch of other small groups popular
at the time, such as Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers
or Horace Silver's group.
Speak
Like a Child This is
generally thought to be a notch
below Hancock's other Blue Note recordings,
and maybe so, but that speaks volumes about
the quality of his work during this period.
In addition, the larger horn section (Thad Jones,
flugelhorn/Peter Phillips, bass trombone/Jerry
Dodgion, alto flute) sets the stage for Hancock's
late '60s/early '70s experiements with the Mwandishi
group.
The
Prisoner Working with a still
larger group (a nonet), Hancock demonstrates
his abilities as an orchestrator and arranger
as well as a composer. This is a suite of music
loosely inspired by Martin Luther King's struggle
for civil rights. Includes some inspired performances
by Johnny Coles and Joe Henderson.
Sextant
The last of the albums by Hancock's
Mwandishi sextet (the others are collected on
the Complete Warner Recordings below) finds
Hancock along with trombonist Julian Priester,
trumpeter Eddie Henderson, and woodwind player
Bennie Maupin (who contributed
to Hancock's own Headhunters as well
as Miles' Bitches Brew) incorporating
free jazz with electronic sounds in a very organic
way. This is one of the best fusion albums ever,
recorded before the term was even coined.
Headhunters
Get down and shake your booty.
The first of Hancock's really populist albums
that created his musical split personality.
Judged as a fusion album, it's classic, as a
jazz album it's...well, not really jazz. As
a modern popular music album, it's a really
great listen and demonstrates that dance music,
funk, electronics, and improvised music can
all exist peacefully together.
V.S.O.P.
Sophisticated, acoustic, small
group jazz that demonstrated that there was
still plenty of life in the Miles Davis quintet
concept. That group, with trumpeter Freddie
Hubbard instead of Miles, creates wonderfully
inventive music that is everything a small jazz
group should be. Hancock demonstrated that he
wasn't ready to leave the jazz world behind
(as his former boss Miles had done) just yet.
Future
Shock Yeah, yeah, not all
that great an album, you say. Well, if you're
looking at it from a 1969 perspective, maybe
not. But taken on its own terms it provided
a shot in the arm to both Hancock's career and
the forthcoming electronic music movement. It
reeks of the 1980s, but there's plenty of intelligent
and excellent work here, from Bill Laswell's
crisp production to Pete Cosey's guitar work
to Sly Dunbar's beats. This album demonstrated
clearly that Hancock was trying to meld some
things together in a new way, not merely reaching
for a mass audience.
The
New Standard A good idea,
well exectued. Take some fairly recent pop music
material and reharmonize it and perform it as
thought it were a jazz standard. Thus, we get
songs like "New York Minute", "Mercy
Street", "Thieves in the Temple"
and "Scarborough Fair" rendered lovingly
and intersetingly by Hancock, Jack DeJohnette,
John Scofield, Dave Holland, Michael Brecker,
and Don Alias.
Directions
In Music Not, strictly speaking,
a Hancock album, this live tribute to Miles
Davis and John Coltrane by Herbie, Michael Brecker
and Roy Hargrove revisits some standard tunes
and includes originals, all seeking to further
investigate the music of these two jazz giants.
One of the better tribute recordings to either
of these jazz greats available.
Box
Sets
Mwandishi:
The Complete Warner Brothers Recordings
Features the albums "Fat
Albert Rotunda", "Mwandishi",
and "Crossings" in their entirety.
"Fat Albert" is funky large group
material that is a bit of an anomaly in the
Hancock catalog, but the other two recordings
are wonderful, exploring the place where post-bop
abstract jazz and the free improvising avant-garde
might meet.
The
Complete Blue Note Sixties Sessions Since
all but one of the Hancock Blue Note albums
is included in his "best" above, you
can bet that this box set gives you value for
your money.
The
Herbie Hancock Box Collection
of Hancock's work for Columbia Records, from
the last recording of his Mwandishi band, through
the Headhunters years, V.S.O.P., and his techno
work with Bill Laswell.
