Herbie Hancock - The Essential Herbie Hancock (2006)
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Artist: Herbie Hancock
Title: The Essential Herbie Hancock
Year Of Release: 2006
Label: Columbia/Legacy
Genre: Jazz
Quality: 320 kbps | FLAC (tracks)
Total Time: 02:19:20
Total Size: 322 mb | 832 mb
WebSite: Album Preview
Tracklist:Title: The Essential Herbie Hancock
Year Of Release: 2006
Label: Columbia/Legacy
Genre: Jazz
Quality: 320 kbps | FLAC (tracks)
Total Time: 02:19:20
Total Size: 322 mb | 832 mb
WebSite: Album Preview
CD1
01. Herbie Hancock - Watermelon Man (Album Version)
02. Herbie Hancock - 'Round Midnight
03. Herbie Hancock - Cantaloupe Island
04. Herbie Hancock - Maiden Voyage (Album Version)
05. Miles Davis - Circle
06. Herbie Hancock - The Sorcerer (Album Version)
07. Herbie Hancock - Tell Me A Bedtime Story (Album Version)
08. Herbie Hancock - Hidden Shadows
09. Herbie Hancock - Chameleon
10. Herbie Hancock - Joanna's Theme
CD2
01. Herbie Hancock - Butterfly
02. Herbie Hancock - People Music
03. Herbie Hancock - Milestones
04. Herbie Hancock - 4 A.M.
05. Herbie Hancock - Come Running to Me
06. The V.S.O.P. Quintet - Finger Painting
07. Herbie Hancock - Stars in Your Eyes
08. Herbie Hancock - Rockit
09. Herbie Hancock - St. Louis Blues (Album Version)
10. Herbie Hancock - Manhattan (Island of Lights and Love) (Album Version)
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 "Hidden Shadows" 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.