According to Bob Blumenthal's 1999 liner notes, "Blue Note logs hollo for that an endeavor had been made to tape 'Maiden Voyage', 'Little One', as well as 'Dolphin Dance' 6 days earlier, amongst Hubbard on cornet as well as artin_%28drummer%29" title="Learn Herbie Hancock - 1965 [1999] Maiden Voyage">Stu Martin inward house of Williams. Those performances were rejected at the fourth dimension as well as have got been lost inward the ensuing years." Influenza A virus subtype H5N1 unlike version of "Little One" was also recorded closed to the same fourth dimension past times Miles Davis as well as his quintet (including Hancock, Carter, Shorter as well as Williams) for the album E.S.P., also released inward 1965.
"Maiden Voyage", "The Eye of the Hurricane" as well as "Dolphin Dance" have got right away piece of occupation jazz standards as well as are featured inward Hal Leonard's New Real Book vol. 2. Hancock rerecorded "Maiden Voyage" as well as "Dolphin Dance" on his 1974 album Dedication as well as updated the championship rails on his 1988 album Perfect Machine. "Dolphin Dance" was rerecorded inward 1981 for the Herbie Hancock Trio album. Hancock has released alive concert versions of "Maiden Voyage" on CoreaHancock (1979) as well as An Evening With Herbie Hancock & Chick Corea: In Concert (1980) (both amongst Chick Corea). Hancock recorded "Maiden Voyage" as well as "Eye of the Hurricane" amongst the VSOP Quintet on VSOP: Tempest inward the Colosseum (1977).
The history of jazz is oft told through the exploits of its firestarters, outsized personalities similar Charlie Parker as well as Miles Davis who sent shockwaves through every bandstand they visited. That’s the headline level, as well as it’s useful for agreement diverse periods as well as styles. But equally the music evolved as well as expanded inward the 1960s, priorities shifted, as well as thus did the roles of the players. There was demand for musicians who were perchance non ever thus flamboyant. The collective pursuit of a audio became equally of import equally private heroics, as well as that created opportunities for gifted squad players as well as facilitators, musicians who sought to complement what was happening rather than dazzle people all the time.
Maiden Voyage springs from the heed of i of the most goodness as well as creative of the sound-sculpting facilitators, pianist as well as composer Herbie Hancock. By the fourth dimension he recorded this, Hancock had been inward the Miles Davis Quintet for several years, an sense he, bassist Ron Carter as well as drummer Tony Williams, the beat department here, all described equally transformative. Among Hancock’s tasks inward that grouping was to create expansive landscapes for Davis; the pianist stoked as well as framed what became epic discussions past times drawing on a hit of sources. His accompaniments powerfulness glance at the syncopated jabs of 1920s Ellington, or the clusters of gratis jazz, or the gorgeous pastel chords associated amongst Debussy. Hancock has said that inward the Davis bend he learned well-nigh infinite as well as subtlety, well-nigh how something small-scale as well as slight, similar a three-note chord, could trigger torrents of spontaneous creativity. To hear that inward action, consult virtually whatsoever recording of the ‘60s Quintet.
Or cheque out this record, because Hancock brought those strategies for conjuring as well as slyly shaping a tune into his ain projects. Maiden Voyage, arguably his peak solo disceptation from the 1960s, appropriates elements of the Davis grouping dynamic for a transfixingly understated meditation on the lure of the sea. It’s a classic that’s justifiably revered for its compositions as well as its solos, as well as also, perchance most importantly, the rich as well as fragile interactions that run throughout. The album is a perfect illustration written report inward the art of grouping interplay; it offers an array of thoughtful answers to the enquiry “How, exactly, does conversation hap inward jazz?” Hancock starts amongst the notion of melody: Each of these 5 pieces is built closed to a singable theme, i that’s durable plenty to hold out inverted, paraphrased or passed closed to the grouping inward the oestrus of improvisation. The melodies of Hancock’s tunes serve equally a form of through-line, echoing inward the margins. Hancock refers to his themes, inward oblique ways, when accompanying trumpeter Freddie Hubbard as well as tenor saxophonist George Coleman: He’s cultivating an atmosphere of expansive openness, as well as sometimes those glancing references assist remind everyone involved well-nigh the dimensions of the canvas, the coloring palette as well as overall tone. This tactic proves particularly wise on the deceptively challenging “Dolphin Dance:” The mood is placid but the solos acquire stormy, as well as whenever it seems similar the music is well-nigh to fracture, Hancock slips inward some lilliputian phrase that gathers everyone dorsum together.
In the headstrong jazz twelvemonth 1965, lots of players were screaming “Look what I tin privy do!” trying to grab attending past times whatsoever contrived way possible. Hancock’s Maiden Voyage represents the flipside of all that: His windblown, undulating, intentionally low-key surroundings proceeds from the belief, acquired from Davis, that a minimal setting tin privy inspire all kinds of meaningful musical conversations. Everybody is listening carefully, as well as out to heighten the proceedings. There is peachy grace, as well as concision, inward every gesture here, as well as it’s non an accident that inside these discussions, at that topographic point are also bold, wailing outbursts as well as provocations. That’s what happens when everyone involved is inward pursuit of musical aptness rather than audacity.
Less overtly adventurous than its predecessor, Empyrean Isles, Maiden Voyage notwithstanding finds artist/herbie-hancock-mn0000957296">Herbie Hancock at a creative peak. In fact, it's arguably his finest tape of the '60s, reaching a perfect remainder betwixt accessible, lyrical jazz as well as chance-taking difficult bop. By this point, the pianist had been amongst artist/miles-davis-mn0000423829">Miles Davis for 2 years, as well as it's clear that Miles' subdued yet challenging modal experiments had been fully integrated past times artist/hancock-mn0000957296">Hancock. Not solely that, but through artist/davis-mn0000423829">Davis, artist/hancock-mn0000957296">Hancock became part of the special beat department of bassist artist/ron-carter-mn0000275832">Ron Carter as well as drummer artist/tony-williams-mn0000791318">Tony Williams, who are both featured on Maiden Voyage, along amongst trumpeter artist/freddie-hubbard-mn0000798326">Freddie Hubbard as well as tenor saxophonist artist/george-coleman-mn0000642196">George Coleman. The quintet plays a alternative of 5 artist/hancock-mn0000957296">Hancock originals, many of which are only superb showcases for the group's provocative, unpredictable solos, tonal textures, as well as harmonies. While the quintet takes risks, the music is lovely as well as accessible, thank you lot to artist/hancock-mn0000957296">Hancock's understated, melodic compositions as well as the tasteful grouping interplay. All of the elements blend together to brand Maiden Voyage a shimmering, beautiful album that captures artist/hancock-mn0000957296">Hancock at his finest equally a leader, soloist, as well as composer.
"In Jan 1965, jazz pianist Herbie Hancock received a telephone telephone from a Hollywood jingle agency. Its client, Yardley, needed background music for a TV commercial as well as wanted a trio playing something jazzy, since the men’s fragrance promotion took house inward a sophisticated club. But instead of writing straight-ahead jazz, Mr. Hancock arranged a catchy rhythmic trouble that was closer to rock.
"In the weeks ahead, Mr. Hancock completed the assignment as well as and thus used the rhythmic chords equally the bones for Maiden Voyage—the championship vocal of what would piece of occupation his most iconic as well as imperial album. The recording combined the freer, modal jazz pop at the fourth dimension amongst a fresh romantic lyricism as well as vulnerability. The resultant is a timeless, career-defining opus of emotional dubiety as well as guarded optimism——an album that would piece of occupation his equivalent to the Beach Boys’ Pet Sounds.”
"In the years since the release of Maiden Voyage, the album’s championship song, The Eye of the Hurricane as well as Dolphin Dance have got piece of occupation jazz standards, as well as the album was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame inward 1999. Today, fifty years later on it was recorded on March 17, 1965, Maiden Voyage remains Blue Note’s third-most-popular legacy album as well as Mr. Hancock’s No. 2 best-selling recording later on Head Hunters, his electro-funk hitting from 1973."
Track listing
All compositions past times Herbie Hancock.
1. "Maiden Voyage" 7:53
2. "The Eye of the Hurricane" 5:57
3. "Little One" 8:43
4. "Survival of the Fittest" 9:59
5. "Dolphin Dance" 9:16
Personnel
Herbie Hancock — piano
Freddie Hubbard — trumpet
George Coleman — tenor saxophone
Ron Carter — bass
Tony Williams — drums
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