I have been reviewing music in some way, shape or form now for
\n18 years, and I freely admit there is a lot I still need to learn.
\nAs I’ve gotten older, I’ve come to appreciate the world of jazz,
\nand have of late been greedily devouring as much jazz (especially
\nwhat would be considered “be-bop”) as I can get my hands on.<\/p>\n
Yet I also know that my knowledge of jazz is extremely limited,
\nand of specific artists even more so. So, when I try to discover an
\nartist like Chicago-born pianist Herbie Hancock, I go right to the
\nstart — in this case, Hancock’s 1962 debut as a bandleader,
\nTakin’ Off<\/i>.<\/p>\n
The 22-year-old Hancock was already immersed in the jazz world,
\nhaving cut his teeth as a sideman with such artists as Coleman
\nHawkins and Donald Byrd. Yet when it came time to assemble his
\nfirst band, Hancock was no slouch in looking for talent. The
\ntag-team duo of trumpeter Freddie Hubbard and tenor saxophonist
\nDexter Gordon complement Hancock’s loping piano lines well, even if
\nsometimes one finds themselves wishing that this three-man core
\nwould just break loose and let something rip.<\/p>\n
Instead, Hancock and bandmates (rounded out by bassist Butch
\nWarren and drummer Billy Higgins) take a controlled foray into the
\nmusical world, pounding out six originals by Hancock and quickly
\netching their place in jazz history. “Watermelon Man,” the
\nbest-known selection on this disc, would soon achieve even higher
\nfame thanks to the cover version by Mongo Santamaria.<\/p>\n
It’s interesting to note that, at times, Hubbard and Gordon’s
\nhorn work dares to imitate a human voice; indeed, there are times
\non both “Watermelon Man” and “Empty Pockets” that one can imagine a
\nvocalist adding their own contributions to the musical score. This
\nis not meant as a slam against either musician or against Hancock;
\nif anything, this helps the listener feel more at home with the
\nmaterial.<\/p>\n
If there is a weakness to
\nTakin’ Off<\/i>, it would be in the original album’s closing
\nnumber, “Alone And I.”. After the controlled energy of numbers like
\n“Three Bags Full,” “The Maze” and “Driftin’,” closing the disc with
\na ballad seems almost anti-climactic. It’s still somewhat
\ninteresting to listen to, but to my ears, it’s just not the right
\nway to close things out.<\/p>\n
The reissue of this album on CD tacks on three alternate takes,
\nthough none of them really add anything to the legacies of the
\nsongs. With the exception of a more staccato rhythm line on
\n“Watermelon Man,” there was precious little difference I could
\ndiscern between the originals and the alternates.<\/p>\n
The only other point of contention is that it takes several
\nlistens before you’ll find yourself completely comfortable with
\nthis disc. Oh, sure, it’s all time well spent, and you do find more
\nto like with each successive listen, but not many people are going
\nto have the time to dedicate to such an effort, much less the
\nwillingness to do so. Still,
\nTakin’ Off<\/i> is rightfully seen as a jazz classic, and is a
\nwonderful introduction of Hancock the bandleader to the world.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":26731,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"artist":[7037],"rating":[5615],"class_list":["post-37992","review","type-review","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","artist-herbie-hancock","rating-rating-b"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/37992","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/review"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=37992"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/37992\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/26731"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=37992"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"artist","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/artist?post=37992"},{"taxonomy":"rating","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rating?post=37992"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}