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Herbie Hancok


king ubu

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I will produce a radio show on Hancock, beginning with his sixties Bluenote work as main focus.

Now it would be nice to have one or two ESSENTIAL tracks he made as a sideman - but he made so many record dates with Miles, Wayne Shorter, Donald Byrd etc. What would you consider to be the essential tunes/solos/compositions he recorded besides his work as a leader?

ubu

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Except that it was Herbie's debut as a leader, not Dexter's album.

There are a couple of real nice tunes on the album he made before Takin' Off, on Donald Byrd's Royal Flush. I just checked AMG and it credits Byrd with all of the originals except for Hancock's "Requiem" but I coould have sworn at least one of those other tune's was Herbie's. Anyway, excellent early music, almost as catchy as "Watermelon Man".

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thanks everybody!

mikeweil: I thought of Adam's Apple to present his work with Shorter, too.

Aggie: nice idea - I want to omit Maiden Voyage or at least not play too much of it, as it is so well-known.

(good I have a nice little TOCJ of Happenings.... :g )

brownie: Watermelon Man will most probably open the show. Dexter is incredible on that!

John B: what's that Kirk session? Is that also in the Mercury box? (I don't have it with me here, being at work) - or need I absolutely pick up the VME of "Domino"?

Dan: I don't have Royal Flush yet - and money is quite low, so... it's in the Mosaic isn't it? I have not yet picked it up, but as I will and am no doubler, I won't get the RVG anyway (unless everybody jumps at me now and prefers it sonically very much...)

ubu

Edited by king ubu
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Re: Adam's Apple

Herbie *is* the composer of the bonus track, 'The Collector' (although I couldn't find a copyright, but that doesn't disprove anything). This is the piece that was originally attributed to Miles and given the title 'Teo's Bag', a misunderstanding Miles did not make any effort to correct and may have had some part in creating (as Peter DeVries would say).

Bertrand.

Edited by bertrand
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Re: Adam's Apple

Herbie *is* the composer of the bonus track, 'The Collector' (although I couldn't find a copyright, but that doesn't disprove anything). This is the piece that was originally attributed to Miles and given the title 'Teo's Bag', a misunderstanding Miles did not make any effort to correct and may have had some part in creating (as Peter DeVries would say).

Bertrand.

The Collector was also included in Herbie's BN box - as are some other tracks he made as a sideman during those years. There is one tune from a Don Byrd session, too, but I don't think it's from Royal Flush (was this a fifties session? If so it does make sense, as the box is sixties only).

ubu

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I just skimmed an on-line discography of Herbie's work in the 60's, both as a leader and as a sideman (no doubt it wasn't complete, I'm sure), but most of it is there.

If you're open to non-Blue Note recordings, I would have to strongly suggest including something from the Sorcerer or Nefertiti sessions (with Miles), perhaps one one of the alternate takes from the Miles 65-68 box??

If you're only looking for suggestions of his 60's BN sideman work, maybe a track from Wayne Shorter's "Etcetera", which is my personal favorite of all of Wayne's BN dates.

There's so much incredible Herbie on record from that decade, it's really hard to know where to begin.

Edited by Rooster_Ties
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Rooster: I love The Prisoner and it will certainly not be forgotten! (see my last post)

And yes, I like Etcetera very much, too, but time constraints will probably limit me to present only one tune with Shorter.

Re. Miles: I thought of The Sorcerer too. That was my first record of the second quintet, still love it (though I prefer Miles Smiles today). Will have to listen to that stuff again.

Another personal favorite of mine - though most probably no essential Herbie - is Ed Thigpen's After the Storm, reissued as a VEE some years ago.

ubu

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As far as suggestions for dates with Herbie as a sidemen for your second show, definitely don't overlook Joe Henderson's "Power To The People" from May of 1969 - with Herbie mostly on electric piano, though he might be on acoustic on one or two tracks (I'd have to check to be sure).

That's another hard one... don't have the Henderson Milestone box, cannot afford it right now, but will sure have it some time... maybe I need to pick this up anyway. Thanks!

ubu

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To get more specific about suggestions from the Miles 65-69 box, there are a couple things that I can listen to multiple-times at a sitting, and never get tired of...

I don't know which show this would go in better (#1 or #2), but the rehearsal sequence for "I Have A Dream" (from disc #5 of the Miles box) is simply stunning. I know it's almost 7 minutes long, but you could probably pull a very tasty 60 to 120 second segment, which (for anyone who hadn't heard it yet), but who was familiar with the "original" (later recorded) version from "The Prisoner", might be an eye-opener. It was recorded on Jan. 25th, 1968 (along with a nice rehearsal sequence for "Speak Like A Child", which is only 2.5 minutes long).

Other ideas from the same Miles box, "Riot" from 1967 is only 3 miuntes long, and is a great Herbie tune. Also, I've alwayed loved the slower alternate take of "Pinocchio", which is about 5 minutes long.

Another suggestion (not from the Miles box), is the alternate take of "Goodbye to Childhood" from the Herbie BN box. (At least I think that's the tune, and I don't have my Hebie box handy). In any case, there is an alternate take of one tune from "Speak Like A Child" where Herbie's solo is completely solo, with no horns and not even bass or drums. Really stunning.

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So, will we be able to *listen* to your show on the web?

It will be in german - swiss german actually, which is not even proper german, so not even germans do understand it... And there ain't much professionality included, either. A friend of mine has a committment to a local alternative radio station (in Zurich, Switzerland), and we do these usually monthly shows together for half a year now. More on the fun side, except for the music, which we try to present as good as we can... ;)

But yes, I think it will be available online. Will have to check if anyone's interested.

Part one is next sunday (aug.17), part two sunday aug.31. Part three sometimes in september.

ubu

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I will produce a radio show on Hancock, beginning with his sixties Bluenote work as main focus.

Now it would be nice to have one or two ESSENTIAL tracks he made as a sideman - but he made so many record dates with Miles, Wayne Shorter, Donald Byrd etc. What would you consider to be the essential tunes/solos/compositions he recorded besides his work as a leader?

ubu

My favorite stuff with Herbie as a sideman is the stuff he did with Miles. His accompaniment on those sessions is unreal. And his solo on "Circle" is my favorite Herbie solo.

Guy

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