Herbert Jeffrey Hancock (born April 12, 1940) is an American pianist, keyboardist, bandleader, composer and actor. Hancock started his career with Donald Byrd. He shortly thereafter joined the Miles Davis Quintet, where he helped to redefine the role of a jazz rhythm section and was one of the primary architects of the post-bop sound. In the 1970s, Hancock experimented with jazz fusion, funk, and electro styles.
Hancock’s best-known compositions include the jazz standards “Cantaloupe Island”, “Watermelon Man”, “Maiden Voyage”, and “Chameleon”, as well as the hit singles “I Thought It Was You” and “Rockit”. His 2007 tribute album River: The Joni Letters won the 2008 Grammy Award for Album of the Year, only the second jazz album to win the award, after Getz/Gilberto in 1965. (by wikipedia)
1970-71 saw a seismic change in Hancock’s music – after finishing the “Fat Albert Rotunda” album at the end of 1969; his major recordings during 1970 were the Miles Davis albums “A Tribute to Jack Johnson” and “Live Evil”, then his studio album “Mwandishi” was recorded on December 31st, 1970. Quite a way to spend New Year’s Eve! This session comes eight months later.
In searching for information about this session, I can only see that it’s changed hands between traders as a tape and then a 2 CD set for many years; and that the 50 min section of “Ostinato” has sometimes been sold in some places. (by neverenoughrhodes.blogspot.com)
And yes … you´ll hear many Free Jazz elements !
Recorded live at the NDR Studios, Hamburg, Germany, August 4th 1971
Personnel:
Herbie Hancock (piano)
Billy Hart (drums)
Eddie Henderson (trumpet, flugelhorn)
Bennie Maupin (saxophone, flute, bass clarinet)
Julian Priester (trombone)
Buster Williams (bass)
Tracklist:
01. Toys (Hancok) 46.46
02. (1.17.46)
02.1. Speak Like A Child 27.13
02.2. Ostinato (Suite For Angela) 50.36
Music composed by Herbie Hancock
Takin’ Off is the debut album by jazz pianist Herbie Hancock released in 1962 by Blue Note Records. The recording session features Freddie Hubbard on trumpet and Dexter Gordon on tenor saxophone. The album is in the hard bop idiom, with its characteristic two horns and a rhythm section. The bluesy track “Watermelon Man” made it to the Top 100 of the singles charts, and went on to become a jazz standard. The album has been called “one of the most accomplished and stunning debuts in the annals of jazz.”[7] It was released on CD in 1996 with three alternate takes and then remastered in 2007 by Rudy Van Gelder. The 2007 edition includes new liner notes by Bob Blumenthal. (b wikipedia)
Twist of Jobim contains a single disc with 11 songs. The CD has an unusual multi-artist tribute to the music of Antonio Carlos Jobim. Some of the Twist of Jobim songs are made funky (but in a melodic and tasteful way), while others become quiet (but still passionate) ballads. Twist of Jobim are all jazz-oriented songs.
Inventions & Dimensions is the third album by Herbie Hancock, recorded on August 30, 1963 for Blue Note Records. The album was also re-released in the mid-1970s as Succotash credited to Hancock and Willie Bobo.[4] Inventions & Dimensions is unusual in prominently featuring Latin percussion without being a Latin jazz album, rather being Hancock’s exploration of modal jazz and post-bop. (by wikipedia)
Dedication is the sixteenth album by Herbie Hancock. It was recorded in Japan in 1974 while Hancock was touring and first released on the Japanese CBS Sony label in September 21, 1974. Hancock performs “Maiden Voyage” and “Dolphin Dance” acoustically, while “Nobu” and “Cantaloupe Island” were performed on electric keyboards. It wasn’t released in CD outside Japan until 2013, as part of the “Herbie Hancock the complete Columbia album collection 1972-1988” box set. The track “Nobu” is regarded by many (including As One) as the first ever techno track, due to its other-worldly repetitive electronic groove.
piano tracks, “Maiden Voyage” and “Dolphin Dance,” which are notable since they date from a period when Hancock was supposedly totally immersed in electronics. Side two has two even more unusual pieces — “Nobu,” a one-man show recorded in real time with the sample-and-hold feature of an ARP 2600 synthesizer providing a rhythm section for Hancock’s electric keyboards, followed by “Cantaloupe Island” with a pre-recorded synth bassline. Side two is a fascinating look back at the charms and stringent limitations of mid-’70s analog keyboards, as well as a challenge to Hancock’s on-the-wing inventiveness — and despite some inevitable stiffness in the rhythm, he comes through with some colorful work. This would be the first of several Japan-only Hancock albums from the ’70s, an indication that Japanese jazz fans were (and perhaps still are) far more open-minded and free-spending than their American counterparts. (by Richard S. Ginell)
ManyFantasticColors 