Empyrean Isles [Remaster]

Performer: Herbie Hancock
Engineer: Rudy Van Gelder
Producer: Alfred Lion; Michael Cuscuna; Michael Cuscuna (Reissue)
Distributor: EMI Music Distribution

Notes: The Rudy Van Gelder Edition of EMPYREAN ISLES includes an essay by Bob Blumenthal. Personnel: Herbie Hancock (piano); Freddie Hubbard (trumpet); Ron Carter (bass); Tony Williams (drums). Recorded at the Van Gelder Studio, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey on June 17, 1964. Includes liner notes by Nora Kelly. Digitally remastered by Rudy Van Gelder. This is part of the Blue Note Rudy Van Gelder Editions series. Personnel: Herbie Hancock (piano); Herbie Hancock; Rudy Van Gelder (recorder); Freddie Hubbard (trumpet, cornet, flugelhorn); Ron Carter (bass instrument); Anthony Williams (drums); Tony Williams (drums). Audio Remasterer: Rudy Van Gelder. Liner Note Author: Bob Blumenthal. Recording information: New York, NY (06/17/1964); Van Gelder Studio, Englwood Cli (06/17/1964). Photographer: Francis Wolff. My Point of View and Inventions and Dimensions found Herbie Hancock exploring the fringes of hard bop, working with a big band and a Latin-flavored percussion section, respectively. On Empyrean Isles, he returns to hard bop, but the results are anything but conventional. Working with cornetist Freddie Hubbard, bassist Ron Carter, and drummer Tony Williams -- a trio just as young and adventurous as he was -- Hancock pushes at the borders of hard bop, finding a brilliantly evocative balance between traditional bop, soul-injected grooves, and experimental, post-modal jazz. Hancock's four original concepts are loosely based on the myths of the Empyrean Isles, and they are designed to push the limits of the band and of hard bop. Even "Cantaloupe Island," well-known for its funky piano riff, takes chances and doesn't just ride the groove. "The Egg," with its minimal melody and extended solo improvisations, is the riskiest number on the record, but it works because each musician spins inventive, challenging solos that defy convention. In comparison, "One Finger Snap" and "Oliloqui Valley" (alternate takes of both tracks are included as bonuses on the CD reissue) adhere to hard bop conventions, but each song finds the quartet vigorously searching for new sonic territory with convincing fire. That passion informs all of Empyrean Isles, a record that officially established Hancock as a major artist in his own right. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine Herbie Hancock's tenure with Miles Davis had a profound influence on EMPYREAN ISLES. Hancock made even more expressive motions of the freer forms and modal progressions explored by Davis' band. This is no surprise, as Hancock was one of the chief navigators of the Davis group's astounding explorations. On ISLES, Hancock employs Davis bandmates Tony Williams and Ron Carter, along with trumpeter Freddie Hubbard, for a revolutionary recording as significant as Hancock's better-known MAIDEN VOYAGE. The burning opener "One Finger Snap," presented here in two takes, is a very open-sounding piece. Liquid chords seem to float underneath Hubbard's soaring lines as Williams attacks his drums with brute force. In contrast, the mysterious "Oliloqui Valley," again in two takes, begins with shifting dynamics and moods, opening into a gliding solo section that features Hancock's expert keyboard work. The funky "Cantaloupe Island," which has been widely sampled, and the exploratory "The Egg" are both excellent examples of Hancock's genre-bending genius.

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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