Playlist: The Very Best Of Herbie Hancock [Digipak]

Performer: Herbie Hancock
Distributor: Sony Music Distribution (

Notes: This is an Enhanced CD, which contains both regular audio tracks and multimedia computer files. One of the few jazz players to navigate confidently between the post-bop tradition and more outward-bound funk and electronic influences, the versatile keyboardist and composer Herbie Hancock has established himself as one of the most esteemed musicians of his generation. From his influential work with Miles Davis's second quintet, to his crossover jazz-funk and electro hits, Hancock has continually pushed the envelope of traditional jazz values. PLAYLIST collects music mainly from his 1970s albums, from expansive soundtracks to funky fusion efforts with his band the Headhunters, providing an excellent overview of one of the most revered figures in jazz music. Composer and pianist Herbie Hancock enjoyed a long and fruitful relationship with Columbia Records as a leader. His volume in Sony's super budget Playlist series (these are all signified by possibly the worst design job in recorded music history) contains a decent, well considered representation of his time at the label. His work with the stellar V.S.O.P. band kicks things off with a reading of his own "Maiden Voyage" and is followed by "Song," with saxophonist Dexter Gordon from the soundtrack of Bertrand Tavernier's brilliant film 'Round Midnight. It then moves into electric territory documenting albums such as Mr. Hands, the monumentally influential Head Hunters (two cuts), Thrust, Man-Child, and his later smash title track from the funkfied post-disco hip-hop of Rockit. The only complaint is that there isn't a cut from Sextant here with the Mwandishi band (which morphed into the Headhunters band) as a replacement for either "Butterfly" or "Hang Up Your Hang Ups." It would have showcased all of Hancock's phases with the label. That caveat aside, this is a solid intro to one big slice of his career after Blue Note and Warner Brothers and before the really uneven Verve years, but this set is strictly for the novice. ~ Thom Jurek

One of the most open-eared and forward-thinking jazz musicians of his day, Hancock has, more than just about anyone else, consistently tried to broaden the music's horizons by mixing it with the most interesting elements of contemporary pop. Hancock has consistently pushed the envelope, from his earliest days with Miles Davis to his jazz-rock fusion of the early '70s and his early embrace of synthesizers and electronic instruments, his early-'80s experiments with hip-hop and sampling, or more recently, his acoustic piano reinterpretations of songs--the new standards, in his parlance--by everyone from Don Henley to Nirvana.

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