Fretplay.com Herbie Hancock CD reviews Herbie Hancock guitar tabs Herbie Hancock CD reviews Herbie Hancock tabs The Best of Herbie Hancock: The Blue Note Years


Herbie Hancock - The Best of Herbie Hancock: The Blue Note Years Audio CD

A fair review of the Herbie Hancock "The Best of Herbie Hancock: The Blue Note Years" 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.

Herbie Hancock Band: Herbie Hancock
Title: The Best of Herbie Hancock: The Blue Note Years
Rating:
Release Date: 1990-10-25
Media: Audio CD

Tracks: 1: Watermelon Man 2: Driftin' 3: Maiden Voyage 4: Dolphin Dance 5: One Finger Snap 6: Cantaloupe Island 7: Riot 8: Speak Like a Child 9: King Cobra

Classic Modern Jazz
We will grant great musician/composers their restlessness and experimentation, but ask yourself, when you catch up with me and have been involved in music for 40+ years, with ever changing reproduction technologies, which sides have you positively worn out?

Two LP's, one cassette, and 2 CD's (someone 'borrowed' a copy to burn). The beautiful music that Herbie made early in his career is what people keep coming back to. . . which puts this side up there with Miles' "Kind of Blue" and "Birth of the Cool". John Coltrane's "A Love Supreme". Stan Getz' "Sweet Rain" (brought me home from some nasty freaky moments). The tunes, "Maiden Voyage" and especially "Speak Like a Child" are such gorgeous arrangements, they make me pause in whatever I am doing and thank God for Herbie Hancock and his genius.


Stunning
These nine tracks capture him during his Blue Note period recording under his own name whilst still playing as Pianist for Miles Davis in the famous 1960's band. This is a great introduction to Herbie Hancock as both a gifted Jazz Pianist and as a composer.

Starting with the famous 'Watermelon Man' you might be really surprised here. After Dexter Gordon's brilliant Tenor Sax solo Herbie's solo is a very simple and bluesy - not the cascade of notes you might expect from a virtuoso Pianist. 'Maiden Voyage' is a beautiful track which evokes its title as well as any track I can think of. Its initial apparent simplicity is actually very misleading as the rhythm is rather complicated. On this track George Coleman is on Tenor sax, but the highlight is Freddie Hubbards brilliant Trumpet solo, both lyrical and inventive this is marvellous playing.

There are numerous other wonderful tracks on this CD. 'Dolphin Dance' is a great tune. 'One Finger Snap' contains a wonderful moment (at 4:09) where Herbie Hancock evokes memories of Count Basie in a little Piano riff he plays. The original version of Cantaloupe Island follows this track. Playing this recently I was amazed how slow it is. Again on this track fabulous playing by all the musicians.

The other musicians (I haven't already mentioned) on this album are:
Thad Jones - Flugelhorn
Donald Byrd - Trumpet
Grachan Moncur III - Trombone
Hank Mobley - Tenor Sax
Peter Phillips - Bass Trombone
Jerry Dodgion - Alto Flute
Chuck Israels - Bass
Butch Warren - Bass
Ron Carter - Bass
Billy Higgins - Drums
Tony Williams - Drums
Mikey Roker - Drums

The tracks are taken from the albums 'Takin Off', 'Maiden Voyage', 'Empyrean Isles', 'Speak Like a Child' and 'My Point of View' recorded between 1962 and 1968. .


Very nice listening
I'm a big fan of Herbie Hancock and have not been unhappy with anything he has done. I found the music to be everything I had hoped it would be.


Herbie Hancock - The Blue Note Years
I really liked another of his discs - that's why I tried this one. I wasn't impressed by his jazz style on this CD.


A Good Collection of Herbie Hancock's Early Work
Classics like the now standard "Watermelon Man" are songs that you never get tired of, especially when you have great players like Freddie Hubbard and Wayne Shorter in the band. Although all of these songs are from Herbie Hancock's earlier period, they do make up a very solid collection. The line-ups on this album are very strong throughout. If you're looking for Herbie Hancock's more futuristic sounding tunes then this album is not what you're looking for. If you're looking for a good collection of his early work, or if you're new to Herbie Hancock and need to find a good introductory disc, then this is definitely the place to go.


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.

Search guitar tabs

#ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ
[ Search tabs | Guitar tabs | Bass tabs |
Easy guitar tabs | Guitar solo tabs |
Acoustic guitar tabs | Guitar chords |
How to read guitar tabs ]
Forum topics
Music forums
- Bands and artists - Songwriting and lyrics - Tablature talk - Promote your band
Instrument forums
- Guitar basics - Gear & accessories - Bass guitar
Community
- The pit - Site Feedback - Reviews
[ User survey | About us | Privacy statement ]