My Point Of View [Remaster]

Performer: Herbie Hancock
Artist: Donald Byrd; Hank Mobley; Grachan Moncur III; Grant Green; Tony Williams; Chuck Israels
Engineer: Rudy Van Gelder
Distributor: EMI Music Distribution

Notes: The Rudy Van Gelder Edition of MY POINT OF VIEW includes an essay by Bob Blumenthal. Personnel: Herbie Hancock (piano); Hank Mobley (tenor saxophone); Donald Byrd (trumpet); Grachan Moncur III (trombone); Grant Green (guitar); Chuck Israels (bass); Tony Williams (drums). Producer: Alfred Lion. Reissue producer: Michael Cuscuna. Recorded at the Van Gelder Studio, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey on March 19, 1963. Originally released on Blue Note (4126). Includes liner notes by Ira Gitler and Bob Blumenthal. Digitally remastered by Rudy Van Gelder. This is part of the Blue Note Rudy Van Gelder Editions series. After the phenomenal success of TAKIN' OFF, Herbie Hancock's second release for Blue Note was constructed in the mold of its predecessor. The tantalizing MY POINT OF VIEW offers many of the same early Hancock signature moments, but with an expanded palette that reflects the pianist's growing experience. A larger ensemble helped to broaden the range of this release as Blue Note regulars Donald Byrd, Hank Mobley, and Grant Green add to Hancock's sonic textures. Also on board are the advanced trombonist Grachan Moncur III, Bill Evans' bassist Chuck Israels, and the young drum wonder Tony Williams. As with "Watermelon Man" (the opener on TAKIN' OFF), the opening "Blind Man, Blind Man" is a simple, funky groove that serves to attract non-jazz listeners and invite them into Hancock's creative world. More traditional selections like the delightful "A Tribute to Someone" and the bouncing blues number "And What if I Don't" offer Hancock's masterful take on the standard format. Of special note is the centerpiece track, "King Cobra," an inventive piece that captures stunning work by Byrd, Mobley, Moncur, Hancock, and the ferocious Williams on the fade-out. Also included is a second take of the opening number as a closing bookend.

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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