Chick Corea — The Mad Hatter

★★★★★

   In the middle of 1970’s decade Chick Corea was one of best recognized musicians on jazz scene. He was appreciated as pianist, composer, arranger, improviser and leader. He was known for his band and artists he played with. But first of all he was famous for his own style. Since his first fusion experiments in late sixties, Chick Corea was artist connecting and melting Spanish music idioms with elements of jazz genre. First great work, opening the sequence of such productions was Stan Getz’s Captain Marvel recorded in 1972 where Corea composed almost complete material. Musicians involved in recording sessions with Stan Getz, the same time were creating first album of Return to Forever – the band aiming to take vanguard position in jazz-rock of seventies. 

   Time spend with Return to Forever was this period when Corea has focused on symphonic type of arrangement. This was idea clearly taken from progressive rock. In 1976 composer of La Fiesta published groundbreaking double LP album My Spanish Heart where he developed great new vision of Latin jazz. Two years later in 1978 Chick Corea released next album experimenting with jazz-rock and fusion genres, combining jazz elements with progressive rock ideas. Titled The Mad Hatter this was a concept album with lyrics written by Gale Moran and clearly connected by some symbolic, graphic and narrative ideas with Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll. And the tendency of creating intricate concept albums with plenty of references was further evidence for strong bonds between fusion jazz and progressive rock.

Chick Corea — The Mad Hatter (1978)

   Chick Corea released The Mad Hatter album in 1978. It was recorded in Kendun Recorders studios in Burbank with jazz line-up and chamber sections. Jazz section were Joe Farrell (tenor saxophone, flute, piccolo), Herbie Hancock (electric piano), Jamie Faunt, Eddie Gómez (basses), Steve Gadd, Harvey Mason (drums) and Gayle Moran (vocals). Brass parts were played by Stewart Blumberg, John Rosenburg, John Thomas (trumpets) and Ron Moss (trombone) and string section was Charles Veal and Kenneth Yerke (violins), Denyse Buffum and Michael Nowack (violas), Dennis Karmazyn (cello). The leader himself played piano, electric piano (Fender Rhodes), synthesizers (Mini-moog, Poly-moog, Moog 15, Moog Sample & Hold, Arp Odyssey, Oberheim 8 Voice, Mxr Digital Delay, Eventide Harmonizer) and percussion (African shaker, marimba, cymbal and cowbell). He was also composer and arranger.
   As it has been indicated above, main contribution of progressive rock into jazz-rock crossover style was symphonic narrative and orchestral structure of arrangements. One of consequences of this attitude was concept album idea, which was not used before but so often convention in mainstream jazz. Chick Corea as pianist and composer was always closer to classical music than rock, especially in his sound ideas. In his albums he was constantly developing structural means giving in result various kinds of closed compositions and cycles. This feature played decided role also in construction of The Mad Hatter album. It is so rich in qualities, ideas and conceptions, fragments of modal improvisations are entwined with modernistic chamber arrangements and neoclassicist elements of compositions, it’s just perfect subject for structural analysis. Nonetheless all of these make this album more ambitious than it was acceptable in 1978. Four stars is lowest grade for such ambitious and well done project. Fifth star I am giving for my personal reasons - it was just one of my high-school favorite albums.

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.

Miles Davis – Big Fun

★★★★★

   In sixties Miles Davis with his quintet and with Gil Evans created series of recordings which had the power of defining modern jazz. After 1969, starting with remarkable In a Silent Way, Miles Davis’ electric fusion was the style setting trends in seventies. In this period his artistry flourished with deep quality of pure musical contents. It is characterized by an abundance of excellent recordings, new electrified sound, revised framework for more compositional and improvisational freedom. This qualities can be treated as a continuation of the main trends present in Davis’ music in the sixties. Among the albums from this period, many of which are considered to be brilliant, probably the most underrated is Big Fun, a double LP album, released April 19, 1974. Problem with this album was the moment of publication, over four years after first recordings and diversity of material forming a patchwork of four different pieces recorded during four different sessions in the years 1969, 1970 and 1972. Every piece has length of full record side and takes from 21 to 28 minutes.

   It was three months after album In a Silent Way was released and more than two months after Bitches Brew sessions, when Miles Davis resumed recording sessions continuing his experiments with electric sound and fusion. He started recording along with Steve Grossman (ss), Bennie Maupin (bcl), guitarist John McLaughlin, Khalil Balakrishna playing electric sitar, Bihari Sharima playing tabla and tamboura, pianists Herbie Hancock and Chick Corea, bassists Ron Carter and Harvey Brooks, drummer Billy Cobham and Airto Moreira on percussion. First session took place in New York Columbia Studio E, November 1st, 1969. Musicians recorded one piece Great Expectations, including Joe Zavinul’s Orange Lady. Almost the same band took part in recording Lonely Fire November 28th, 1969. Changes in line-up were saxophonist Wayne Shorter, double bassist Dave Holland. There was also the second drummer Jack DeJohnette. Lonely Fire was placed as recording closing the Big Fun set with sound and style most close to the opening piece.

Miles Davis – Big Fun (1974)

   Second side composition Ife was recorded during last session June 12th, 1972. The band was almost all new, besides Davis and Maupin all line-up has changed. Soprano players Carlos Garnett and Sonny Fortune (also flute), pianists Lonnie Smith and Harold Williams Jr. (also sitar), bassist Michael Henderson, drummers Al Foster and William Hurt, Mtume (James Foreman) playing African percussion and Badal Roy on table – whole band was almost the same as recorded On the Corner and musical ideas of Ife and other recordings of this period are clearly connected. This was most recent sound of Miles Davis band.

   Although many musicians played on previous albums, the sound of this recording was significantly different. And it was not only the effect of introducing Indian instruments, nor the first use of trumpet mute in electric period. Musicians still presented experimenting approach. The first recordings were done five months before Bitches Brew was in trade. Album In a Silent Way was received very well, but musicians knew nothing about what will be the public reaction for the Bitches Brew album. This situation was for sure in a way uncomfortable but the same way forcing more artistic freedom.
   Since the sixties jazz musicians were abandoning formal rules obtained earlier. Traditional dividing into theme and improvised choruses sections in bop, cool and hard-bop was more and more lousy. In free jazz era this form seemed to be totally obsolete, but Davis didn’t accept this as a new mode. Looking for own way became main narration of albums and concerts in electric era. In 1969 he turned to folk music, connecting sound of Indian and African instruments with muted trumpet (as earlier he used the Harmon mute) and the sound of electric instruments, guitar, organ, pianos and even electric sitar. Most natural way of building musical narration became freely distributed, improvised sections developing over hypnotic rhythm and bass line figures. This gave his music the epic effect of breaking rules and touching the core of human condition.

   Most complex and longest composition on this album is Go Ahead John. Recording March 3rd, 1970 group was smaller than typical Miles Davis’ personnel. This time trumpet’s companion was only Steve Grossman on soprano sax, John McLaughlin on guitar, bassist Dave Holland and drummer Jack DeJohnette. And guitar was only harmonic instrument used. The title evokes guitarist John McLaughlin whose solos plays featured role in introducing and closing parts of the piece. The dominant of the whole construction are still two episodes of Miles Davis trumpet solos. While in Great Expectations Davis played with distorted sound giving him almost rock guitar expression, this time without mute his trumpet sounds mild and silky. The sharper sound of McLaughlin’s guitar paradoxically reinforcing lyricism and abstract calm of blues played as central episode by Davis and Holland. In this part Davis’ trumpet was overdubbed with repetitions duplicating phrases and giving this music spatial and mysterious outfit. Sound space was extremely significant. Even some drums parts were divided in fast cuts into two channels like there were two complementary drummers. In coda comes back initial funky guitar with Grossman’s soprano solo. Whole work credited as Miles Davis’ composition was executed in series of studio treatments by Teo Macero – yet another example of excellent cooperation between Davis and great Columbia producer.
   Considering the diversity, richness and permanent underrating, definitively 5 stars.

Herbie Hancock – Quartet

After successes of 1976-1979 four VSOP albums, Herbie Hancock was engaged in different projects and stretching his art in many directions. Looking for most appropriate setting he was playing in many line-ups, solo, in duets, trios and in electro-funk formations. While planning 1981 tour, the group occurred hard to reunite. Wayne Shorter remain focused on his own projects and he was still  hardly engaged with Weather Report. Freddie Hubbard was playing and recording under his own name. In general this was fruitful period for creative work of all VSOP members. Planning concert tour in Japan Herbie Hancock reunited with Ron Carter and Tony Williams, the two musicians he was recording with also in trio and had engaged young, 20 years old trumpet player Winton Marsalis. With this quartet, sometimes called VSOP quartet, Hancock played tour and recorded on July 25th, 1981 in Tokyo CBS Sony Studios the new album. Under title Herbie Hancock Quartet double record set has been released in 1982 as 34th album in Herbie Hancock’s discography.

Herbie Hancock – Quartet

Themes choose for this session reveal musicians’ intention. Most of them are compositions by group members, Hancock, Carter and Williams. Leader’s theme The Eye of the Hurricane, has been previously published on two Herbie Hancock’s milestone album Maiden Voyage from 1965 and VSOP Tempest in the Colosseum album from 1977. Played by quartet without saxophone, in fast tempo and sharp articulation sounds even much extremely technical and expressive. Recorded program in some parts refers directly to legendary Miles Davis Quintet where three musicians of the 1981 Herbie Hancock Quartet had their great part. Two themes were part of Miles Davis 1967 Sorcerer album – The Sorcerer by Hancock and Pee Wee by Williams. Another two themes were hard bop Thelonious Monk standards – Well You Needn’t and Round Midnight, known for uncountable records and live performances.
It’s significant, during one day session Wynton Marsalis has been able to prove he was the rising star of modern jazz. To be absolutely honest, his improvisations in some moments are showing determination of young musician to take advantage of a chance but generally he is musically ad intellectually focused on improvisations, group collaboration and his trumpet sometimes sounds just visionary. From driving hard bop phrases in Well You Needn’t to lyrical and fragile proportioning sound in Round Midnight, his playing is full of nuances, using incredibly diversified sound and progressions perfectly fitting Hancock’s harmonic ideas.
The quartet is playing absolutely phenomenal, every instrumentalist is virtuoso and creates meaningful part of the whole. In Ron Carter’s A Quick Sketch continuity and space gives near trance feeling and perfect timing. There is a whole bunch of magical moments in this album - Williams solo in The Eye of the Hurricane, likewise Marsalis solos in Pee Wee and in I Fall in Love Too Easily are just wonderful. Hancock is playing magnificent blend of hard bop and his own idiomatic and inimitable passages. And as leader he is in high disposition, giving musicians full possibilities to spread their wings.

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.