Herbie Hancock Album-By-Album Thread

copypasta - Wiktionary

 

Well I'll be...

 

you're in luck, they are. that wasn't a typo.

a copypasta is a block of text taken directly from one source online and inserted into another context, usually a social one. it's a portmanteau of copy and paste modified a little for humor's sake also to include pasta. the origin is probably 4chan, I'd say from sometime around 2004.

EDIT: I totally didn't check to see if anyone else filled you in. I'll leave it as-is anyway.

meanwhile, it looks like this thread is doing great, alamo54us. I'm looking forward to catching up with things after the holiday.

 

Guys, I'm embarrassed to say that I didn't realize Herbie had albums before Empyrean Isles and Maiden Voyage. Even though I am a huge fan of his, after my initial interest started with his work in the second Miles Davis Quintet and with Airto Moreira on Killer Bees (a track on Stereophile Test CD 3 got me into that album), I picked up albums of his from all over his career and then focused on the 1970s albums. I have over 100 CDs and SACDs of his albums but no versions of the first three! I'll go get them and then give this thread my comments.

 

I have all of Herbie's BN albums, all the Mwandishi recordings and all of his later material from Verve on. Where I have lots of holes in my collection is the Columbia stuff after Man-Child and Flood. I've been tempted to pull the trigger on the Columbia box.

 

I have a lot of holes all over his discography, but the bulk of my Herbie collection is from his CBS/Columbia years. Most of it certainly not traditional or hard core Jazz, I think.

 

Wake me when we get to Mwandishi. That's my bag!

 

My favorite is probably the large ensemble Blue Note recordings, Speak Like a Child and Prisoner, but I do love his stuff before and after. Did you know he wrote Watermelon Man to be a commercial success and it was--the single reached top 100 of pop charts. I think the tune as recorded in '62 and then reworked for Head Hunters in '73 nicely bookends his legendary contribution to jazz. Sure, the stuff that came after is worth exploring but rarely does an artist have such landmark contributions as Herbie did for that decade.

 

I think Mimosa could fit well on a comp for newbies, it's the most accessible track on the album.

 

On some days "Takin' Off" is my favorite Herbie album. I understand the idea/criticism that it may sound a bit like a "standard/stock Blue Note session" but I love that sound...

 

Gave Inventions and Dimensions a few spins this weekend, actually my copy is a liberty vinyl with title changed to Succotash.



It's been a few years since I played this and I sort of forgot Paul Chambers was on it. It's so great to hear him play in such a setting and with Herbie, off the top of my head I can't think of other recordings they played on together.

Aside from the track Succotash I very much enjoyed it with Triangle being my favorite track which I returned several times over the weekend. I don't want to get into technique and theory but Triangle is a cool snap shot of all of his abilities up to the point showing his skills in comping, voicings, timing and solos.

Most people skip the first three BM albums because of what came after but there is much to enjoy on of them.

 

I agree, while I am happy for Herbie that Headhunters did so well that he could continue to do what he loved and bring us more great music I am not even sure if I have it in my collection anymore where Thrust and Flood are go to's in his catalog for me.

 

NP: Best of Herbie - 1st 3 Blue Note Albums playlist I just created.

Watermelon Man
King Cobra
Mimosa
The Maze
A Tribute To Someone
A Jump Ahead
And What If I Don't Know

 

Here is the real hit, Mongo Santamaría's recording from next year, which went t0 #10 (Herbie's original reached #121):

 

It does have a "Poinciana" thing to it.

 

Too bad they kinda spoil it with the annoying overdubs.

 

Don't get me wrong, I luvs me some Headhunters, but I really enjoy Thrust and find the songs much more interesting. Flood is a pretty new album in my collection and I haven't delved in to it too much yet.

 

Since it seems like we're up to the 3rd album (maybe 4th with Empyrean), I put on Inventions and Dimensions, (too bad I'm feeling too lazy to go down and get my Music Matters 45 out and set up my headphones by my main system) streaming from my phone, for another listen.

I'm really intrigued by Succotash on this listen and the rhythmic exploration that all parties seem to be emabraking on. The drums start off with what seemed like a pretty straight forward pulse that'd be in 4, but then the bass comes in and I was like "What the heck is going on here?" and could make neither heads nor tails of it until Herbie comes in playing a pattern to establish a strong feeling of 6. They continue with a 6 feel while Herbie starts to explore various different patterns leading up to a very staccato chordal thing which leads to a shift from Paul Chambers in to a bass line that establishes a rather swinging 4 feel, a little past the one minute mark. Stays on that for a little bit then seems to shift back and forth between the 6 and 4 feels, where eventually Herbie starts to restate the staccato sort of chord thing from earlier right before he breaks back in to the same sort of 6 pattern from the opening, this time while the bass seemed to be keeping the 4 feel going. By this point I was no longer sure if what I interpreted as 6 back in the beginning was actually 6 or 4.

 

Thanks for that detailed analysis...now I'm going back in for another listen!

 

IMO, Inventions and Dimensions was a huge leap forward for Herbie and is the album wherein he really finds his voice. Changing the format and losing the horns puts the focus on Hancock's playing and improvisational skills which, consequently, makes the session less "hit" oriented. While he can still lay down a groove, it's a lot more cerebral here. I hear a lot of stylistic advancement on Inventions. dzhason mentioned the unusual rhythm and the use of staccato in Herbie's soloing, and one also sees him using a lot of descending patterns along with very percussive chord repetition which he used to great effect on a couple of the solos on My Point of View.
On Inventions I think you really begin to hear the kind of playing that HH brought to the second Miles Davis Quintet, especially noticeable on the Plugged Nickel dates.
I think this is an important record in Hancock's catalog and I'm a little surprised he didn't mention it in his autobiography. Bob Gluck completely skips over it in his discussion of early Hancock in his book, too.

 

Just heard this for the first time yesterday and agree on all points. From the moment the record started I thought..oh here we go; Herbie is finally coming into focus. I have been trying to follow the thread by going in the proper order so I can understand the context of his growth. The first two albums are solid in their own way ("My Perspective" a little on the safe side) but something interesting is happening here. He's spreading out a bit more and exploring some new ground. Probably my favorite of the first 3 albums so far.

Anyone know what street the cover shot was taken?..I'm assuming somewhere in NYC?

 

As we go along I'm listening to the albums in order and also trying to listen to Hancock's session work that was concurrent to give his progress more context. Sometimes the chronology can be confusing, but if Inventions was recorded in August of 1963 as reported, then Herbie was already gigging with Miles after the Seven Steps sessions.
While listening to Inventions I found myself wondering how these tunes would have sounded with Tony Williams on drums. I think playing with Tony may have been influential in Herbie's move toward this more free, open approach. Give a listen to their interplay on Miles Davis in Europe (recorded around the same time as I&D), paying special attention to Herbie and Tony even when they're comping under Miles and George Coleman. I think you'll get an even clearer picture of Herbie's evolution as a player. (And his solos on "Milestones" and "I Thought It was You" are pretty great anyway.)

 

Will check tonight if I have Miles Davis In Europe. Is it in the Columbia box set?

 

It's in the Miles Davis Complete Columbia albums set and also available as a stand alone budget title (not the Miles Davis in Europe '67 set; this is an earlier recording from 1963 with George Coleman on sax).

 

I did a bit of searching and found that Herbie and Chambers played together on 3 tracks of Woody Shaw's "In the Beginning," recorded in 1965.