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The New Standard

Herbie Hancock - The New Standard Audio CD

A fair review of the Herbie Hancock "The New Standard" Audio CD. Please note that the below review is the views of the authors, and authors only. You can get a complete list of all Herbie Hancock reviews here, or go back to the Herbie Hancock tabs.

Band: Herbie Hancock
Title: The New Standard
Rating:

Release Date: 1996-03-05
Media: Audio CD

Tracks: 1: New York Minute 2: Mercy Street 3: Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown) 4: When Can I See You 5: You've Got It Bad Girl 6: Love Is Stronger Than Pride 7: Scarborough Fair 8: Thieves in the Temple 9: All Apologies 10: Manhattan (Island of Lights and Love)

Herbie plays newer pop songs
Hancock assembled an impressive band - Michael Brecker (sax), John Scofield (guitar), Dave Holland (bass), Jack DeJohnette (drums), and Don Alias (percussion). Herbie Hancock is no stranger to catchy songs, or even MTV (think of Rockit), so finding a disc of pop covers in his catalogue should be no surprise. The focus is on playing straight jazz, not any form of jazz fusion. The jazzier they play the song, the better the result. Don Henley's "New York Minute" gets things off to a good start. "Mercy Street" by Peter Gabriel is pretty good. "Norwegian Wood" by Lennon/McCartney has additional strings and horns, but the song rises above the additional mushiness. "When Can I See You" is a Babyface song that is done too smoothly for me to enjoy much. Stevie Wonder's "You've Got It Bad Girl" is good, though Sade's "Love Is Stronger Than Pride" is a little too smooth. "Scarborough Fair" by Simon & Garfunkel is pretty good, and Prince's "Thieves In The Temple" gets a funky workout. I was curious to hear Nirvana's "All Apologies", since Kurt Cobain wasn't the sort to use jazzy chords or progressions. There's a repeating synthesizer or distorted bass or guitar sound, then Hancock plays a verse and chorus straight before bluesily improvising the rest. "Manhatten" is an original that is done as a piano solo.

This is a good CD overall. I enjoy listening to it, but somehow the concept doesn't draw me strongly to it. Anyone curious about it, or a big Herbie fan will probably enjoy it.
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Buy It & Keep It Forever
If you love classic Herbie before all the hip hop Herbie then this is a buy. All I had to hear was a small sample of "When can I see you" and I knew this one was a buy. This CD is one of Herbies best. It has that looking at the sunset feeling.

Modern jazz masterpiece
Yes these are covers of contempory pop and rock hits, but they do not sound like cheap covers. This album is a modern jazz masterpiece, and no lover of jazz should be without this purchase. Hancock has reworked them into intricate masterful pieces, and this album is up there with his early brilliance of Maiden Voyage in my opinion.

Since I picked this up last year it has has so much rotation in my disc player, and this along with Miles Davis's Kind of Blue is perfect jazz for almost any occasion. Like that lofty album, Hancock's 'New Standard' makes great background music for any dinner or cafe setting, and for more astute listening the album holds many moments of interest and enjoyment.

Although I don't mind his funk and experimental chill material, I believe that this is the kind of material that Herbie Hanckock truely shines, and it is what places him above many other artists today. This album is a great return to form, and I heartily recommend it to both casual listeners of jazz and the more serious jazz academics.

I would love to see more of the same quality from Herbie Hancock in the years to come. Five stars from me!.

Old Wine In New Bottles
The most fascinating thing for me is what the title hints at: putting new context on some well known pop songs. I guess I was pleasantly surprised by this recording as, personally, I still use Maiden Voyage as a reference point for HH's work. Listening to the record felt a bit like enjoying some old vintage contained in what looks like new bottles! Worth purchasing and giving a good spin. >> Arthur A. Madonsela >> South Africa.

Herbie shows how it should be done
It's also one of my favourites. Herbie Hancock's body of excellent work is vast but this 1996 CD is one of his more interesting latter day recordings. On it, he is joined by some of my most favourite players; Michael Brecker on tenor and soprano saxophones, John Scofield on guitar, Dave Holland on acoustic bass, Jack DeJohnette on drums and electric percussion and Don Alias on percussion.

The idea is a great one - take current popular songs and make new jazz standards out of them. The idea of making jazz versions of pop tunes is not new of course but while other so-called jazz musicians have just remade the originals of their choice, lazily replacing the vocal phrases with their instruments, Hancock has done the job the way it's supposed to be done. He's considered the tunes very carefully and then, together with Bob Belden, given them new and exciting arrangements. Produced by Hancock and Guy Eckstine, the album tackles tunes from Don Henley, Peter Gabriel, The Beatles, Babyface, Sade, Simon & Garfunkel, Prince, Nirvana and Steely Dan.

It's great stuff. I particularly love the way Hancock would phrase the end of a solo, only to have that phrase echoed by Scofield at the beginning of his. They do that on two of my favourite songs - the opening "New York Minute" and "Love Is Stronger Than Pride". The ballad "Norwegian Wood" is pure magic. The way John Scofield plays on it blows my mind every time I listen. "Thieves In The Temple" and "When Can I See You" (where Don Alias really shines) are also particularly interesting.

But I love all the songs really. Just as you think the album is about to end on a quiet note via "All Apologies" and the Herbie Hancock and Jean Hancock original "Manhattan", in comes the stomper "Your Gold Teeth II" to pick things up again.

I had quite a few of the original songs before I heard this album and those I didn't have I went and searched out after I'd heard it. I feel Herbie Hancock has managed, (with the exception, maybe, of the Nirvana tune - nobody and nothing, in my view, can beat the haunted and haunting sound of Kurt Cobain's voice), that very rare feat of making covers of songs sound much more interesting than the originals. Some of his more recent outings have been a bit ropey in my view (though, admittedly, very popular) but there's no doubt in my mind that he's one of the musical geniuses of this generation. If ever any proof was needed, this album with its all-star cast, is it.
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You can see a complete list of all Herbie Hancock discography, or go back to the Herbie Hancock tabs. There is also a good guide on how to read guitar tabs here.