Herbie Hancock – V.S.O.P.

   After 15 years of intensive musical activity Herbie Hancock was as much respected artist so the program of Newport Jazz Festival contained a special evening dedicated to his music, was termed as “Retrospective of The Music of Herbie Hancock”. In the age of 36 he was already a giant of modern jazz. Concert presented by George Wein was in fact not quite a retrospective. It featured three Hancock’s bands. First was a quintet with musicians Hancock played from early days of his career. Later this band continued and was called V.S.O.P. Quintet. Second was introduced as Herbie Hancock Sextet, but in fact it was Mwandishi Band. Third was the most recent project, representing current trend in Hancock’s music. Indeed, in 1976 The Headhunters was most popular of all Hancock’s bands. On liner notes Herbie Hancock wrote himself, he concluded this concert was so much one musician tribute, but enabling bigger group of musicians to play together.
   The whole program of this evening has been recorded by CBS and published as the double album under the title V.S.O.P., but this time it was only title of the album signed by Herbie Hancock. Next Hancock’s album was titled The Quintet and signed by V.S.O.P. ensemble. So can be stated this live album gave its name to the band. Two records covering the concert performance are perfect passage through modern jazz and great documentary of Hancock’s artistic achievements. From hard bop and modal jazz quintet, through early fusion sextet to the funky, intensively rhythmic trance music of Headhunters band.

Herbie Hancock – V. S. O. P. (1976)

   Serious shape of Herbie Hancock’s music, its natural flowing connected and interwining with different traditions takes its sources from modern jazz of the 50’s. This is still significantly connected with the idea of music as most efficient language for emotional and spiritual communication. It could be observed on every moment of this recording. When after Piano Introduction Herbie Hancock is joined by Ron Carter and Tony Williams it’s like initiation into the mystery of musical value system. This way Maiden Voyage continues with series of solos by Freddie Hubbard, Wayne Shorter and the leader of the quintet called later V.S.O.P. Next theme Nefertiti is like small jazz interlude before filling the entire second side Eye of the Hurricane.
   The same serious attitude one can find in funk recordings. Opening 4th side Hang Up Your Hang Ups with modal solos of Bennie Maupin on tenor saxophone and Herbie Hancock on electric piano is nothing else than modal jazz amplified with new rhythmic intensity. Power of rhythmic funk continuity based on section Paul Jackson (bg), James Levi (dr), Kenneth Nash (perc.) and two guitarists: Ray Parker jr. and Wah Wah Watson, shows new trance idea of modal jazz. Second record of the album was also the second part of the show. The idea was to show the newer trends in Hancock’s music. But it was the revival of oldest band and the Eye of the Hurricane, what became the start of a real new chapter of Herbie Hancock’s career. After the first fascination with the sound and rhythm of funk, in second half of the decade there was high time for the return of well known forms of jazz expression.

Herbie Hancock – Maiden Voyage

   Herbie Hancock is one of most restless spirits, constantly changing bands, styles, even genres. He is constantly alternating, trying different strategies and playing with various lineups. Sometimes he is playing popular dance music, sometimes mainstream and in fact all this comes from ultra modern attitude. And in contrary, his place on the jazz scene as the pianist, arranger and composer is perfectly steady, which is side effect of quite traditional mastery. In fact artist established his position in his twentieth and since these times all possible critics and listeners reactions are just repeating all over the same lists of compliments and doubts. He is the kind of musician who is taking seriously all kinds of music, even those which most listeners see as nothing but dance music. For half of the century he was featured artist on many directions of jazz and popular music.
   Herbie Hancock’s ideas were one of strongest factors during construction of the post-bop style. His intuition and technique were legendary. In effect his compositions with its coloristic use of harmonics and sound sensitive arrangements became famous and many pianists were just copied his style in arranging and improvising. As always the quintessence of great artist’s personal style is unmistakable, although during passing years he has more and more followers. What could be the trademark of this artist is his modernity and restraint. He was never too much radical, always remembering there is also a mainstream jazz with choruses and harmonic changes. This attitude has its root in early recordings of Herbie Hancock as a leader. One of them is fifth Hancock’s album Maiden Voyage. It has been released by Blue Note (BST 84195) in 1965 and became an instant classic.

Herbie Hancock – Maiden Voyage (1984)

   There are many reasons for the Maiden Voyage should be considered as an album of rare quality both in Herbie Hancock’s discography and in best achievements of the whole genre. First of all, this is concept album what makes it a quite unique phenomenon. Although it can be considered as clear instrumental jazz, five compositions are thematically homogeneous, telling about the sea voyage, playful dolphins, struggle for survival and trying to catch impression of the sea in its continuing change. Composition of this album is connected to the idea of historic illustrative, programmatic music and probably closest references for Hancock’s music are Debussy’s piano pieces with impressionistic harmonics. Author of all compositions was Herbie Hancock. On first side including Maiden Voyage, The Eye of the Hurricane and Little One, improvisational fervor is still in the frames of hard bop style. Hancock mitigates Hubbard’s expression and Coleman is usually closer to mainstream than others. In The Eye of the Hurricane he played beautiful Coltranean solo.
   Freddie Hubbard played with bravely expressive sound and harmonic freedom. His trumpet sounds closer to free jazz than George Coleman’s tenor saxophone. While Hubbard is explicitly avant-garde, Coleman is playing post-cool soft phrases with mild sound. Tony Williams is doing best drumming ever. His work should be listening as teaching project for jazz and orchestral drummer. And with Ron Carter he created best section ever. Most progressive piece of the album is opening second side Survival of the Fittest – the rare example of breaking barriers. In Dolphin Dance Hancock is back to his jazz style with distance and graciousness. His solo is just like new definition of jazz. There can be no doubts, this record deserves full set of stars. It could be listen again and again.

Herbie Hancock V.S.O.P. - The Quintet

   Herbie Hancock became a jazz star long time before greater audience had the chance to know his funk and electro-jazz albums. After brilliant making one’s way up in Sixties when he played in Oliver Nelson’s Big Band and legendary Miles Davis Quintet, he didn’t engage in jazz-rock movement. Of course he was in personnel of first Miles Davis’s jazz-rock recording sessions for In a Silent Way, Bitches Brew and many more but working on his own ideas he worked out the style that was closer to funk and more popular, dance music. It’s quite understandable – piano in fusion-jazz was a second-row instrument, in first were rock-guitar, jazz-saxophone and any other melodic instrument like violin or trumpet. So he hit groovy music on the jazz-soul-funk frontier where keyboard instruments were present from the gospell times. And this became his great commercial success. Maybe this popularity gave him intention to prove he was still a great and intellectual jazz pianist.

   Probably the first one of many periodically recurring projects of Herbie Hancock was the V.S.O.P. In may 1977 Hancock explained his own idea saying: „generations who never saw us perform in the Sixties will get a chance to see what we look like playing together”. In fact V.S.O.P. was nearly Miles Davis’ quintet from mid Sixties but with Freddie Hubbard playing trumpet and flugelhorn. Wayne Shorter who was always second soloist in Miles Davis quintet, here is more mature and conscious of himself. And his soprano and tenor saxophones sound really prolific, not just following the leader. Rhythm section were Ron Carter and Tony Williams and they were just like in Miles Davis recordings ten years before, both intellectually brilliant and emotionally deep. Spiritual binder and discrete leader of the group was Herbie Hancock. Like his piano states harmonic and rhythmic connection between rhythm section and melodic instruments, his idea of quintet without soloists, the group of equal jazz musicians became the real basis for creating great bunch of dynamically changing pictures of instrumental creation.

Herbie Hancock V.S.O.P. - The Quintet

   The Quintet by V.S.O.P. is an album recorded live during two gigs – July 16th, 1977 at The Greek Theatre in University of California in Berkeley and July 18th, 1977 at San Diego Civic Theatre. The tittles of compositions are: One of a Kind (Hubbard), Jessica (Hancock), Lawra (Williams), Dolores (Shorter), Third Plane (Carter), Byrdlike (Hubbard), Darts (Hancock) and Little Waltz (Carter). The best thing Hancock did as a leader was good balance between five artists. As critic of Dawn Beat noticed, listeners of the V.S.O.P. concerts „were thrilled by the charisma generated by five masters who listened to one another's inner ears, spoke to each other at multiple levels, and, no matter how dense the musical content, conveyed their messages to the audience with amazing clarity”.

   Maybe it is not a milestone in jazz recording history. Maybe even it is true that every musician of The V.S.O.P. Quintet made better performances on other albums, some of them with Miles Davis, some under their own names. But for me this is one of top jazz records in the history. The idea of modern but conservative group was introduced while choosing the name. It was postmodern per se and the same way understood by the public. In late 70’s musicians with hard-bop past in structure of typical modern quintet do not tried to be the avant-garde, but they built the two decades summary of modern jazz. And they did this in an unforgettable shape.