Herbie Hancock - Maiden Voyage
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Free Music Notes for Maiden Voyage
Free Music Review: Maiden Voyage
Hit: 5 Stars
This group - Hancock, Ron Hubbard, Tony Williams, Ron Carter - works perfectly as an organic entity unto itself. This stuff melds together with as much continuity and spontaneity as anything Miles was doing at the time. The secret is Herbie Hancock, who effortlessly shines through this whole recording. Also, Hubbard sounds very natural in this context.Free Music Review: Brilliant Concept Album
Hit: 5 Stars
This is the first Herbie Hancock album I bought, and it is tied with "Headhunters" for my favorite Hancock album. "Maiden Voyage" is a soothing concept album about the sea. Aside from Hancock's awesome piano playing, trumpeter Freddie Hubbard and saxophonist George Coleman also give superb performances. The title track "Maiden Voyage" starts the album with a cool feel. When this song starts, I can almost picture the sea with cloudy skies that can only mean rain is coming. I think Hubbard easily gives the best solo on this song, combining intensity with soothing notes.
The next track is "Eye of the Hurricane". It is uptempo and very intense. The best soloing on this track is done by Herbie as his piano playing seems to echo pounding rain. I don't know if that was Herbie's intention or not, but that's what I got from it.
"Little One" is a gorgeous ballad, where Herbie plays scintillating piano and the horns do a wonderful job at soloing. Definitely a standout here. But, this song also boasts a clever bass solo from Ron Carter that matches the atmosphere of the song very well.
The album picks up again with "Survival of the Fittest". When I listen to this song, I picture sea monsters fighting to the death. In addition to the fiery soloing of Herbie, Freddie, and George Coleman, legendary drummer Tony Williams solos brilliantly.
The album concludes masterfully with the somewhat playful "Dolphin Dance", and everybody solos on that one, but I think the best solo is done by George Coleman here, as he manipulates the atmosphere to make his ideas work, and he does that well. Freddie and Herbie also will not let you down.
I really dig this album; I think the melodies are catchy and the soloes are highly noteworthy and interesting. But, the album as a whole is brilliant as you can imagine aspects of the see as described by the band playing the songs; it's really an amazing experience. It's also very sedating; I can pretty much only listen to this album on rainy days because it fits well with it. But the remarkable musicianship on this album makes me hope for rain.
Free Music Review: A jazz classic
Hit: 5 Stars
This is a great album to get if you are just getting into jazz and want to hear some quintessential 'hard-bop'. Every song is is great, captivating and fresh, even after 30-some years. If you are a jazz fan and you don't have this yet, what are you waiting for? The line-up here is tremendous. Essential.Free Music Review: It is NOT easy reviewing JAZZ MASTERPIECES...
Hit: 5 Stars
.., and the cd remastering of "Maiden Voyage" is no exception. It contains the brilliantly conceived title track, which inspired NUMEROUS cover versions-- a real classic .By merit of its "sus4" modal chord harmony and simple but emotive melody ,Herbie put this wonderful chord "on the map" for improvisors-- it opens the gateway to inspired improvisation.
"Dolphin Dance" is a bona fide "jazz standard", one of the most melodic (yet intricate) compositions, an improvisors DREAM!
These melodies will set you adrift peaceful seas, perfect antidote for the 40-50(plus!) hour "spanking" known as "the job" !
Do I say TOO MANY words about the artistry of Herbie Hancock, a complete musician in EVERY aspect of the word.
Herbie is , for MY tastes, one of the finest improvisors in the history of "jazz musics", along with being probably the most versatile. What I mean by this, is that H.H. always sounds completely AT HOME in whatever genre of musics he is "talking in", from straight ahead jazz to funk, absract impressionistic musics to all out "top-40" "Rock-it" pretenses..There are so many memorable moments in Herbie's solos , I've learned alot from listening to what "HH" has to say! (And i dont mean to slight the rest of the band on this recording-all are really inspired by this session..)
We dont have to "dig" every idiom he speaks, just revel in his soulful fluency in whatever he plays.
This recording is ALWAYS included on jazz "critics" "must own" list, they are absolute CORRECT in that assessment!
Why Amazon only allows 5 stars, when I feel I must bestow 100000 plus , here it is Maiden Voyage, "made-in" infinite soulfulness..
Free Music Review: Huge, elegant, poised
Hit: 5 Stars
The players on Maiden Voyage are essentially those of the Miles Davis band - but how different from Miles' records it sounds and feels! In 1965, Herbie Hancock's leadership and vision were rapidly taking shape.This album placed Hancock firmly in the company of the great jazz musicians. He had proved his mettle as an innovative and individual pianist on such excellent records as Wayne Shorter's Speak No Evil (Blue Note, 1964) and Miles' E.S.P. (Columbia, 1965), both recorded only months before. Now he led a group he knew intimately, and wrote enduring pieces for the date that were to become admired for decades to come.
The title track sets the tone for the whole record: subtle, measured, contemplative. It's the first solo opportunity for the perpetually underrated George Coleman, who displays virtuosity without arrogance, elegance without contrivance, depth of feeling without sentimentality.
Impeccably orchestrated pieces like "Little One" and the closing "Dolphin Dance" establish Herbie Hancock as the complete musician: inimitable pianist, creative composer, charismatic leader, supreme stylist.