Herbie Hancock - Empyrean Isles (1964)

Note: the CD I listened to was the 1999 Rudy Van Gelder Edition with an 2 bonus tracks.

This was Hancock's fourth album release as a leader; a weak attempt at a concept album about the Empyrean Isles, described in the original, atypical liner notes written by Nora Kelly as "elusive and said to vanish at the approach of ordinary mortals" and "that incense-bearing trees blossom there," etc. You get the point. Needless to say, it fails in its task of being a concept album, but there are a couple of destinations here I don't mind visiting, especially Cantaloupe Island.

In 2017, Pitchfork ranked this album at #177 on their list of The 200 Best Albums of the 1960s with the following blurb:

Pianist Herbie Hancock was already an elite jazz session player when he led this set for Blue Note...But Hancock was also hard at work on his compositional craft. His four original pieces on Empyrean Isles prompt motifs based on brisk chord changes as well as scale-based improvisation. Nearly two decades before his embrace of turntablism on “Rockit,” Hancock was already signaling his intention to swing between radically different formal designs. –Seth Colter Walls

So they obviously like the album more than I, as does the uDiscover Music website, where this albums was ranked at #34 on its list of The 50 Greatest Blue Note Albums.

Hancock - piano
Freddie Hubbard - cornet
Ron Carter - bass
Tony Williams - drums

After recording this album, Hancock, Carter, and Williams (plus Wayne Shorter) would soon join Miles Davis to become what is commonly known as his "Second Great Quartet."

Reviews/ratings:

• Stereo Review: "Lacks cohesion"
• CashBox: "Jazzophiles should dig this session."
• Downbeat (★★★★): "the tunes come off well"
• The Penguin Guide to Jazz (5th ed., 2000): ★★★★
• The Rolling Stone Jazz & Blues Album Guide (1999): ★★★★
• The Virgin Encyclopedia of Jazz (1999): ★★★★

Peak on the US Billboard Top 200 chart: Did not chart

Tracks: As I mentioned earlier, Cantaloupe Island is the star here and yes, I was familiar with the tune before it was famously sampled by Us3 in 1992. My other top pick is Oliloqui Valley, which swings harder than it should and features a killer solos from Hubbard and then Carter. That doesn't mean the other two tracks (One Finger Snap and The Egg) aren't good, simply that I much prefer the first two I mentioned. Both One Finger Snap and Cantaloupe Island were chosen for the 1988 CD release, The Best of Herbie Hancock: The Blue Note Years.

Bonus tracks: Alternate takes of One Finger Snap and Oliloqui Valley. All tracks, including the bonus tracks, were recorded at the Van Gelder Studio on Wednesday, June 17, 1964.

Personal Memory Associated with this CD: None

Previously revisited for the blog:
The Best of Herbie Hancock: The Blue Note Years (1988)
Round Midnight - Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (1986)
Lite Me Up (1982)
Sunlight/Feets Don't Fail Me Now (1978/1979)
Head Hunters (1973)
Speak Like A Child (1968)