The Essential Herbie Hancock [Columbia/Legacy]

The Essential Herbie Hancock [Columbia/Legacy]

by Herbie Hancock
The Essential Herbie Hancock [Columbia/Legacy]

The Essential Herbie Hancock [Columbia/Legacy]

by Herbie Hancock

Compact Disc(Remastered)

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Overview

Calling a two-disc retrospective of the varied and celebrated career of Herbie Hancock "essential" is a tall order to fill. Sony/BMG's Legacy does, as would be expected, an incomplete but decent job at offering a fine representative look at the artist, and at choosing best-known cuts to do so. This set is admirably cross-licensed by producer Bob Belden, who also wrote the great liner notes. Disc one is a journey in and of itself and offers a fine portrait not only of Hancock's changes as a musician, but also the changes in jazz brewing at the time. It begins with "Watermelon Man" from Takin' Off, Hancock's first Blue Note recording in 1962, and follows curiously enough with a fine reading of "'Round Midnight" off Sonny Rollins' Now's the Time offering for RCA in 1964. You get "Cantaloupe Island" and the title track from Maiden Voyage before Hancock's Columbia recordings as a member of the Miles Davis Quintet in 1966 begin. The two quintet cuts are "Circle" and "Sorcerer." There is no electric Miles-era material found here. This compilation follows the artist to Warner Brothers for "Tell Me a Bedtime Story" off Fat Albert's Rotunda (the serial music for Bill Cosby's groovy kids cartoon show), and then moves into the solo material with from Sextant and "Chameleon" from Head Hunters. The disc ends with "Joanna's Theme," from the soundtrack to the film Death Wish. When one considers what's been covered so far, the journey is actually amazing. Platter two continues with more fusion tracks, from Thrust, and a couple from the undervalued Mr. Hands issued in 1980, 1978's Sunlight, the truly awful Monster, and the innovative Future Shock (yes, it's "Rockit"; what else?). But there are also tracks from the many acoustic recordings he did for Columbia such as the Herbie Hancock Trio disc with Tony Williams and Ron Carter. Ditto material from V.S.O.P., the Gershwin's World outing, and of course the solo album New Standard in 1995. Fans can argue all day about what should have been left out and what should have been included but wasn't, but what does matter is how the wild twists and turns in Hancock's career have showcased him to be a chameleon as well as an innovator. While one may wish to place Maiden Voyage or Head Hunters in a newbie's hands, this serves as an undeniably well-rounded historical introduction. ~ Thom Jurek

Product Details

Release Date: 02/28/2006
Label: Legacy / Columbia/Legacy
UPC: 0827969459324
Rank: 6195

Tracks

Disc 1

  1. Watermelon Man
  2. 'Round Midnight
  3. Cantaloupe Island
  4. Maiden Voyage
  5. Circle
  6. The Sorcerer
  7. Tell Me a Bedtime Story
  8. Hidden Shadows
  9. Chameleon
  10. Joanna's Theme

Disc 2

  1. Butterfly
  2. People Music
  3. Milestones
  4. 4 A.M.
  5. Come Running to Me
  6. Finger Painting
  7. Stars in Your Eyes
  8. Rockit
  9. St. Louis Blues
  10. Manhattan

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Herbie Hancock   Primary Artist,Vocoder,Piano,Vocals,Arp 2600,Clavitar,Keyboards,Mini Moog,Micro Moog,Arp Odyssey,Arp Strings,Synthesizer,Arp Echoplex,Handclapping,Fairlight CMI,Fender Rhodes,Arp Pro Soloist,Organ (Hammond),Piano (Electric),Vocals (Background),Oberheim Synthesizer
Julian Priester   Trombone,Trombone (Alto)
Jaco Pastorius   Guitar (Bass),Bass (Electric)
Paul Jackson   Guitar (Bass),Bass (Electric)
Ron Carter   Bass (Upright),Bass
Bill Laswell   Guitar (Bass),Bass (Electric)
Alphonse Mouzon   Drums,Keyboards
Sheila Escovedo   Percussion
Terri Lyne Carrington   Drums
Sonny Rollins   Sax (Tenor)
James Levi   Drums
Billy Higgins   Drums
Raul Rekow   Congas
Miles Davis   Trumpet
Michael Beinhorn   Dmx,Mini Moog,Electronic Drums
Mickey Roker   Drums
Albert "Tootie" Heath   Drums
Stevie Wonder   Vocals,Harmonica
George Coleman   Sax (Tenor)
Harvey Mason, Sr.   Drums
Daniel Ponce   Bata
Bill Summers   Percussion
Bennie Maupin   Sax (Tenor),Flute (Alto),Sax (Soprano),Clarinet (Bass)
Tony Williams   Drums
Freddie Hubbard   Cornet,Trumpet
Greg Walker   Vocals
Garnett Brown   Trombone
Roy McCurdy   Drums
Butch Warren   Bass
Buster Williams   Bass,Bass (Acoustic)
Grandmixer D.ST   Turntables
Baba Duru Oshun   Tabla
Mike Clarke   Drums
Peter Phillips   Trombone (Bass)
Billy Hart   Drums,Percussion
Thad Jones   Flugelhorn
Patrick Gleeson   Resonator
Joe Henderson   Flute,Sax (Tenor)
"Ready" Freddie Washington   Bass (Electric)
Eddie Henderson   Trumpet
Johnny Coles   Flugelhorn
Dexter Gordon   Sax (Tenor)
Wah Wah Watson   Guitar
Alex Al   Bass
Wayne Shorter   Sax (Tenor)
Jerry Dodgion   Flute (Alto)

Technical Credits

Bob Belden   Liner Notes,Compilation Producer
Herbie Hancock   Programming,Composer,Rhythm Sequencing
Paul Jackson   Composer
Teo Macero   Producer
Bernie Hanighen   Composer
Miles Davis   Composer
Thelonious Monk   Composer
Tomoo Suzuki   Engineer
Harvey Mason, Sr.   Composer
Alfred Lion   Producer
Cootie Williams   Composer
Bennie Maupin   Composer
Gavin Christopher   Composer
Jerry Peters   Orchestration
Ray Hall   Engineer
John Vieira   Engineer
M. Davis   Composer
Frank Laico   Engineer
Duke Pearson   Producer
George Avakian   Producer
Fred Catero   Engineer
W.C. Handy   Composer
David Rubinson   Engineer
John Pace   Engineer
Rob Eaton   Engineer
Jeremy Zatkin   Engineer
Rudy Van Gelder   Engineer
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