According to Bob Blumenthal's 1999 liner notes, "Blue Note logs dot that an endeavor had been made to tape 'Maiden Voyage', 'Little One', as well as 'Dolphin Dance' vi days earlier, amongst Hubbard on cornet as well as Stu Martin inwards house of Williams. Those performances were rejected at the fourth dimension as well as have got been lost inwards the ensuing years." H5N1 dissimilar version of "Little One" was also recorded roughly 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 inwards 1965.
"Maiden Voyage", "The Eye of the Hurricane" as well as "Dolphin Dance" have got directly acquire jazz standards as well as are featured inwards 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 rail on his 1988 album Perfect Machine. "Dolphin Dance" was rerecorded inwards 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 inwards 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 every bit the music evolved as well as expanded inwards the 1960s, priorities shifted, as well as thus did the roles of the players. There was demand for musicians who were maybe non ever thus flamboyant. The collective pursuit of a audio became every bit of import every bit 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 hear 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 inwards the Miles Davis Quintet for several years, an sense he, bassist Ron Carter as well as drummer Tony Williams, the musical rhythm department here, all described every bit transformative. Among Hancock’s tasks inwards that grouping was to exercise expansive landscapes for Davis; the pianist stoked as well as framed what became epic discussions past times drawing on a attain of sources. His accompaniments mightiness glance at the syncopated jabs of 1920s Ellington, or the clusters of costless jazz, or the gorgeous pastel chords associated amongst Debussy. Hancock has said that inwards the Davis flexure he learned nigh infinite as well as subtlety, nigh how something small-scale as well as slight, similar a three-note chord, could trigger torrents of spontaneous creativity. To hear that inwards action, consult virtually whatever recording of the ‘60s Quintet.
Or banking concern friction match 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 arguing 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, maybe most importantly, the rich as well as frail interactions that run throughout. The album is a perfect illustration written report inwards the fine art of grouping interplay; it offers an array of thoughtful answers to the inquiry “How, exactly, does conversation move on inwards jazz?” Hancock starts amongst the notion of melody: Each of these 5 pieces is built roughly a singable theme, i that’s durable plenty to hold out inverted, paraphrased or passed roughly the grouping inwards the estrus of improvisation. The melodies of Hancock’s tunes serve every bit a form of through-line, echoing inwards the margins. Hancock refers to his themes, inwards 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 nigh the dimensions of the canvas, the colouring fabric palette as well as overall tone. This tactic proves especially 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 nigh to fracture, Hancock slips inwards some fiddling phrase that gathers everyone dorsum together.
In the headstrong jazz twelvemonth 1965, lots of players were screaming “Look what I tin do!” trying to grab attending past times whatever contrived agency possible. Hancock’s Maiden Voyage represents the flipside of all that: His windblown, undulating, intentionally low-key surround proceeds from the belief, acquired from Davis, that a minimal setting tin inspire all kinds of meaningful musical conversations. Everybody is listening carefully, as well as out to get upwards the proceedings. There is swell grace, as well as concision, inwards every gesture here, as well as it’s non an accident that inside these discussions, in that place are also bold, wailing outbursts as well as provocations. That’s what happens when everyone involved is inwards pursuit of musical aptness rather than audacity.
Less overtly adventurous than its predecessor, Empyrean Isles, Maiden Voyage even thus finds Herbie Hancock at a creative peak. In fact, it's arguably his finest tape of the '60s, reaching a perfect residuum betwixt accessible, lyrical jazz as well as chance-taking difficult bop. By this point, the pianist had been amongst Miles Davis for 2 years, as well as it's clear that Miles' subdued yet challenging modal experiments had been fully integrated past times Hancock. Not exclusively that, but through Davis, Hancock became business office of the particular musical rhythm department of bassist Ron Carter as well as drummer Tony Williams, who are both featured on Maiden Voyage, along amongst trumpeter Freddie Hubbard as well as tenor saxophonist George Coleman. The quintet plays a alternative of 5 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 yous to 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 Hancock at his finest every bit a leader, soloist, as well as composer.
"In Jan 1965, jazz pianist Herbie Hancock received a telephone yell upwards 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 advertizing took house inwards a sophisticated club. But instead of writing straight-ahead jazz, Mr. Hancock arranged a catchy rhythmic business that was closer to rock.
"In the weeks ahead, Mr. Hancock completed the assignment as well as thus used the rhythmic chords every bit the bones for Maiden Voyage—the championship vocal of what would acquire his most iconic as well as violet album. The recording combined the freer, modal jazz pop at the fourth dimension amongst a fresh romantic lyricism as well as vulnerability. The lawsuit is a timeless, career-defining opus of emotional doubtfulness as well as guarded optimism——an album that would acquire 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 acquire jazz standards, as well as the album was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame inwards 1999. Today, l years later 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 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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