The Essential Herbie Hancock
The Essential Herbie Hancock
Release Date:
UPC Code: 827969459324
Label:
Number of Discs: 2
Description
Quite simply, Herbie Hancock is the most widely-imitated, globally-honored and commercially successful creator of true jazz since Bill Evans, whose pellucid sound and approach to rendering a ballad were important influences. But Hancock's sound is slightly more crystalline than Evans', and at up-tempos, his solos seem borne by a bracing breeze. Hancock could have forged a highly impressive career had he been content to concentrate solely on acoustic improvisation. But, like his mentor Miles Davis, he had farther-ranging ideas and a universe of tonalities, harmonies and rhythms in his head.
The Essential Herbie Hancock, drawing on his work for seven different labels, is the finest and most panoramic mini-retrospective ever assembled on this consummate artist. All of those sonorities, chord voicings, and rhythmic directions are in evidence over the course of the 21 tracks in this two-disc package. Spanning the early-1960s to the late-1990s, Hancock is captured as sideman (with no less than Davis and the brilliant tenor saxophonist Sonny Rollins) and leader, on grand piano or a battery of keyboards. Virtually every crucial item in his glittering discography as a bandleader -- from the original "Watermelon Man" and "Maiden Voyage" to "Chameleon" and "Rockit" -- is here, with a supporting cast that numbers Dexter Gordon, Freddie Hubbard, Wayne Shorter, Joe Henderson, Stevie Wonder, Joni Mitchell and, of course, the eternally astounding bass-drums team of Ron Carter and Tony Williams.
The Essential Herbie Hancock also features features one previously unreleased selection: a live version of Charles Mingus' "Goodbye Porkpie Hat" featuring a vocal by Joni Mitchell.
Tracks
| Track | Title | Duration | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Watermelon Man | 7:08 | |
| 2 | 'Round Midnight | 4:02 | |
| 3 | Cantaloupe Island | 5:31 | |
| 4 | Maiden Voyage | 7:52 | |
| 5 | Circle | 5:51 | |
| 6 | The Sorcerer | 5:34 | |
| 7 | Tell Me A Bedtime Story | 5:01 | |
| 8 | Hidden Shadows | 10:11 | |
| 9 | Chameleon | 15:41 | |
| 10 | Joanna's Theme | 4:44 | |
| 1 | Butterfly | 11:17 | |
| 2 | People Music | 7:08 | |
| 3 | Milestones | 6:37 | |
| 4 | 4 A.M. | 5:22 | |
| 5 | Come Running To Me | 8:24 | |
| 6 | Finger Painting | 6:43 | |
| 7 | Stars In Your Eyes | 7:04 | |
| 8 | Rockit | 5:24 | |
| 9 | St. Louis Blues | 5:49 | |
| 10 | Manhattan | 4:05 |
