1. Watermelon Man
2. Blind Man, Blind Man
3. First Trip
4. Cantaloupe Island
5. Maiden Voyage
6. Firewater
Herbie Hancock – Piano
Freddie Hubbard – Trumpet, cornet (tracks
1, 4, 5)
Dexter Gordon – Tenor sax (track 1)
Butch Warren – Bass (track 1)
Billy Higgins – Drums (track 1)
Donald Byrd – Trumpet (track 2)
Grachan Moncur III – Trombone (track 2)
Hank Mobley – Tenor sax (track 2)
Grant Green – Guitar (track 2)
Chuck Israels – Bass (track 2)
Tony Williams – Drums (tracks 2, 4, 5)
Thad Jones – Flugelhorn (track 3)
Peter Phillips – Bass trombone (track 3)
Jerry Dodgion – Alto flute (track 3)
Ron Carter – Bass (tracks 3-5)
Mickey Roker – Drums (track 3)
George Coleman – Tenor sax (track 5)
Johnny Coles – Flugelhorn (track 6)
Garnett Brown – Trombone (track 6)
Jack Jeffers – Bass trombone (track 6)
Jerome Richardson – Flute (track 6)
Joe Henderson – Tenor sax (track 6)
Romeo Penque – Bass clarinet (track 6)
Buster Williams – Bass (track 6)
Albert "Tootie" Heath – Drums (track
6)
This
is one of a batch of budget-price CDs which
Blue Note is issuing to showcase the work
of great individual jazzmen. The bad news
is that the playing time is rather meagre
at barely 43 minutes, and it took me half-an-hour
to decipher the personnel, whose details are
printed on the inner sleeve in black on pink
so as to be almost invisible. The good news
is that this album contains some of Herbie
Hancock’s finest work for Blue Note, although
it omits such classics as Dolphin Dance.
Throughout
his career, Herbie has been notable for the
way that he has seldom stood still. From his
early recordings with Miles Davis, through
the work with his own bands like the Maiden
Voyage group and VSOP, to his forays into
jazz-rock and the use of electronic keyboards
– and the success of such ground-breaking
tracks as Rockit, Hancock has never
been content to tread water but has always
enjoyed exploring new musical avenues. Blue
Note was his first record label, so the selections
here all date from the 1960s, when his varied
talents were already on display.
The
album opens inevitably with Watermelon
Man, a tune which understandably became
a jazz standard with its memorable melody
and funky rhythm. It includes strong solos
from Freddie Hubbard, Dexter Gordon and Hancock
himself. It’s amazing now to consider that
it comes from 22-year-old Herbie’s first album
as leader – Takin’ Off from 1962. Blind
Man, Blind Man from a year later is somewhat
in the same vein. Out of chronological order,
First Trip (1968) is a Ron Carter composition
– a straight four-four jazz outing that shows
Hancock still happy with conventional forms.
Despite the listed personnel, this is virtually
a trio track, featuring Herbie’s educated
piano. Jumping back to 1964, Cantaloupe
Island is another catchy piece which has
survived reworkings by various artists: the
archetypal smoochy dance tune.
Maiden
Voyage (from the 1965 album of the same
name) has a particular resonance for me, as
the band’s novel approach influenced a band
I was playing with at the time. Once again,
Herbie was extending his horizons, employing
the ostinato style that was to spread so widely.
The collection ends with Firewater
from the 1969 album The Prisoner, displaying
Hancock’s arranging skills with an unusual
line-up. After this album, Herbie left Blue
Note and moved elsewhere.
For
newcomers to Herbie Hancock, this CD makes
as good an introduction as any – although
only to his early work. Other CDs in the series
"The Finest in Jazz" include albums
sampling the music of Thelonious Monk, Lee
Morgan, Jimmy Smith and Grant Green. They
are all good selections but the paucity of
the playing time is regrettable (the Monk
album contains less than 32 minutes of music).
Tony Augarde
CD Reviews
Blue
Note 0946 3 86120 2 5
