Genre > Jazz

Plated and Pressed at Quality Record Pressings!

There are few artists in the music industry who have had more influence on acoustic and electronic jazz and R&B than Herbie Hancock.

In 1963, Miles Davis invited Hancock to join the Miles Davis Quintet. During his five years with Davis, Herbie recorded many classics with the jazz legend including ESP, Nefertiti and Sorcerer, and later on he made appearances on Davis' groundbreaking In a Silent Way and Bitches Brew.

Hancock's own solo career blossomed on Blue Note, with classic albums including Maiden Voyage, Empyrean Isles and Speak Like a Child. After leaving Davis' fold, Herbie put together a new band called The Headhunters and, in 1973, recorded Head Hunters. Head Hunters was a pivotal point in Hancock's career, bringing him into the vanguard of jazz fusion. Hancock had pushed avant-garde boundaries on his own albums and with Miles Davis, but he had never devoted himself to the groove as he did on Head Hunters. Drawing heavily from Sly Stone, Curtis Mayfield and James Brown, Hancock developed deeply funky, even gritty, rhythms over which he soloed on electric synthesizers, bringing the instrument to the forefront in jazz. It had all of the sensibilities of jazz, particularly in the way it wound off into long improvisations, but its rhythms were firmly planted in funk, soul and R&B, giving it a mass appeal that made it the biggest-selling jazz album of all time (a record which was later broken).

Jazz purists, of course, decried the experiments at the time, but Head Hunters still sounds fresh and vital four decades after its initial release, and its genre-bending proved vastly influential on not only jazz, but funk, soul and hip-hop.

This title is not eligible for discount.

Double LP 200-Gram Discs Plated and Pressed at Quality Record Pressings!

There are few artists in the music industry who have had more influence on acoustic and electronic jazz and R&B than Herbie Hancock.

In 1963, Miles Davis invited Hancock to join the Miles Davis Quintet. During his five years with Davis, Herbie recorded many classics with the jazz legend including ESP, Nefertiti, and Sorcerer, and later on, he made appearances on Davis' groundbreaking In a Silent Way and Bitches Brew.

Hancock's own solo career blossomed on Blue Note, with classic albums including Maiden Voyage, Empyrean Isles and Speak Like a Child. After leaving Davis' fold, Herbie put together a new band called The Headhunters and, in 1973 in San Francisco, recorded Head Hunters.

Head Hunters became not only Hancock's best-selling album but also the second highest selling jazz album of all time (at last RIAA count). It was in 1973 that he gathered a new band to combine electric music with funk, perhaps best exemplified in the pop music of Sly Stone.

Hancock took over all synthesizer duties, along with Fender Rhodes and clavinet and was backed by bass and drums. The opening bars of "Watermelon Man" with Bill Summers blowing into a beer bottle, along with the band's funky grooves and new electric sounds, captured the crossover fans who had otherwise avoided buying jazz records.

Head Hunters was a pivotal point in Hancock's career, bringing him into the vanguard of jazz fusion. Hancock had pushed avant-garde boundaries on his own albums and with Miles Davis, but he had never devoted himself to the groove as he did on Head Hunters. Drawing heavily from Sly Stone, Curtis Mayfield, and James Brown, Hancock developed deeply funky, even gritty, rhythms over which he soloed on electric synthesizers, bringing the instrument to the forefront of jazz. It had all of the sensibilities of jazz, particularly in the way it wound off into long improvisations, but its rhythms were firmly planted in funk, soul, and R&B, giving it a mass appeal that made it the biggest-selling jazz album of all time (a record which was later broken).

Jazz purists, of course, decried the experiments at the time, but Head Hunters still sounds fresh and vital four decades after its initial release, and its genre-bending proved vastly influential on not only jazz, but funk, soul, and hip-hop.

This title is not eligible for discount.

Nevertheless, the excellent trumpeter Eddie Henderson – often underestimated as an improviser and composer, and Benny Maupin – who like Hancock had grown up under Miles Davis’s wing, present a wide range of sound-generating instruments – as was all the rage in those days. Synthesizer and Mellotron (a polyphonic tape replay keyboard and as such practically the prototype of the sampler) were permanent members of the group – and even produce here melodic arches of sound! Whether Bennie Maupin’s "Quasar" launches the group and us into extraterrestrial territory (as stated in one review) is a moot point.

This LP is a contemporary historical document, though it certainly doesn’t sound antiquated. That’s why younger listeners too will find pleasure in this experiment from the previous millennium.

Musicians:

• Herbie Hancock (electric-piano, piano, mellotron, percussion)
• Bennie Maupin (soprano saxophone, flute, bass clarinet, piccolo flute, percussion)
• Eddie Henderson (trumpet, flugelhorn, percussion)
• Julian Priester (trombonbe, percussion)
• Patrick Gleeson (synthesizer)
• Buster Williams (bass, percussion)
• Billy Hart (drums, percussion)

Recording: February 1972 at Pacific Recording Studios, San Mateo, CA., by Patrick Gleason
Production: David Rubinson

About Speakers Corner

At the beginning of the 90s, in the early days of audiophile vinyl re-releases, the situation was fairly straightforward. Companies such as DCC, Mobile Fidelity, Classic Records and, of course, Speakers Corner all maintained a mutual, unwritten ethical code: we would only use analogue tapes to manufacture records.

During the course of the present vinyl hype, many others have jumped on the bandwagon in the hope of securing a corner of the market. Very often they are not so ethical and use every imaginable source to master from: CDs, LPs, digital files, MP3s – or employed existant tools from the 80s and 90s for manufacturing.

A digital delay is gladly used when cutting a lacquer disc because tape machines with an analogue delay have become quite rare and are therefore expensive. When cutting the lacquer, the audio signal is delayed by one LP revolution against the signal, which controls the cutter head, and for this a digital delay is very often employed. Of course, the resultant sound signal is completely digital and thus only as good as this delay.

We should like to emphasise that Speakers Corner Records on principle only uses the original master tape as the basis for the entirely analogue cutting of lacquer discs. In addition, the pressing tool is newly manufactured as a matter of principle. We have one digital recording in our catalogue (Alan Parsons / Eye In The Sky“), but even in this particular case we used the analogue tapes for cutting.

We only employ existing tools for manufacturing if an improved result is not forthcoming, e.g. the title Elvis Is Back, which was mastered by Steve Hoffman and Kevin Gray, or several titles from our Philips Classics series, which in any case Willem Makkee cut from the original masters at the Emil Berliner Studios in the 90s. It goes without saying that we only used the mother and that new tools were made for our production.

To put it in a nutshell: we can ensure you that our releases are free from any kind of digital effects – excluding the exception above – and that the lacquer discs are newly cut.

Arguably one of Herbie Hancock’s greatest album from the ‘60s, Maiden Voyage is his fifth album, recorded by Rudy Van Gelder in 1965. Featuring five original Hancock compositions, Maiden Voyage features Freddie Hubbard on trumpet, George Coleman on tenor sax, Hancock on piano, Ron Carter on bass and Anthony Williams on drums. In 1999 Maiden Voyage was inducted into the Grammy® Hall of Fame. Remastered by Alan Yoshida, Maiden Voyage will be reissued on vinyl as part of an overall Blue Note 75th anniversary vinyl reissue campaign spearheaded by current Blue Note Records President, Don Was.

In the summer of 1975, the Herbie Hancock Sextet made a hugely successful tour of Japan, which made people aware of a 'new' Hancock. The last LP that the keyboard virtuoso had recorded, "Thrust", was already one year old, and the film music for the Charles Bronson classic "Death Wish" was received negatively by his fans. At his concerts in Tokyo, Herbie Hancock reached back to his hits: "Maiden Voyage", "Chameleon", and the famous, soulful "Watermelon Man" made the fans at his concert hall and open-air appearances go wild with enthusiasm. Forty years later I have the courage to confess that I couldn’t have cared less about this music at the time; in Europe there was enough that was new and exciting to see and listen to. However, this re-release in its original format has given me the opportunity to check out whether this music has withstood the test of time. And I must say: it has passed the test! Just listen to Herbie at his best! Dr. Michael Frohne

Musicians:

• Herbie Hancock (keyboard)
• Bennie Maupin (saxophone, clarinet, flute, percussion)
• Blackbird McKnight (guitar)
• Paul Jackson (bass)
• Mike Clark (drums)
• Bill Summers (conga, percussion)

Recording: June and July 1975 at Shibuja Kohkaido and Nakano Sun Plaza, Tokyo, by Tomoo Suzuki Production: David Rubinson

About Speakers Corner

At the beginning of the 90s, in the early days of audiophile vinyl re-releases, the situation was fairly straightforward. Companies such as DCC, Mobile Fidelity, Classic Records and, of course, Speakers Corner all maintained a mutual, unwritten ethical code: we would only use analogue tapes to manufacture records.

During the course of the present vinyl hype, many others have jumped on the bandwagon in the hope of securing a corner of the market. Very often they are not so ethical and use every imaginable source to master from: CDs, LPs, digital files, MP3s – or employed existant tools from the 80s and 90s for manufacturing.

A digital delay is gladly used when cutting a lacquer disc because tape machines with an analogue delay have become quite rare and are therefore expensive. When cutting the lacquer, the audio signal is delayed by one LP revolution against the signal, which controls the cutter head, and for this a digital delay is very often employed. Of course, the resultant sound signal is completely digital and thus only as good as this delay.

We should like to emphasise that Speakers Corner Records on principle only uses the original master tape as the basis for the entirely analogue cutting of lacquer discs. In addition, the pressing tool is newly manufactured as a matter of principle. We have one digital recording in our catalogue (Alan Parsons / Eye In The Sky“), but even in this particular case we used the analogue tapes for cutting.

We only employ existing tools for manufacturing if an improved result is not forthcoming, e.g. the title Elvis Is Back, which was mastered by Steve Hoffman and Kevin Gray, or several titles from our Philips Classics series, which in any case Willem Makkee cut from the original masters at the Emil Berliner Studios in the 90s. It goes without saying that we only used the mother and that new tools were made for our production.

To put it in a nutshell: we can ensure you that our releases are free from any kind of digital effects – excluding the exception above – and that the lacquer discs are newly cut.

"As one of the first albums Herbie Hancock recorded after departing Miles Davis' quintet in 1968, as well as his final album for Blue Note, The Prisoner is one of Hancock's most ambitious efforts. Assembling a nonet that features Joe Henderson (tenor sax, alto flute), Johnny Coles (flugelhorn), Garnett Brown (trombone), Buster Williams (bass), and Albert "Tootie" Heath (drums), he has created his grandest work since My Point of View. Unlike that effort, The Prisoner has a specific concept -- it's a tribute to Dr. Martin Luther King, evoking his spirit and dreams through spacious, exploratory post-bop. Often, the music doesn't follow conventional patterns, but that doesn't mean that it's alienating or inaccessible. It is certainly challenging, but Hancock's compositions (and his arrangement of Charles Williams' "Firewater") have enough melody and space to allow listeners into the album. Throughout the record, Hancock, Coles, and Henderson exchange provocative, unpredictable solos that build upon the stark melodies and sober mood of the music. The tone is not of sorrow or celebration, but of reflection and contemplation, and on that level, The Prisoner succeeds handsomely..."
- Stephen Thomas Erlewine (All Music)

Where Man-Child was evenly divided between up-tempo and laid-back tracks, Secrets emphasised the more mellow, softly rounded mood. Even the more up-tempo tracks, "Doin' It" and "Cantaloupe Island", are suffused with a relaxed Caribbean influence, and overall the album tends towards restrained, rolling grooves rather than overtly high-energy Funk. Appropriately, Hancock spent much of his time using the mellow tones of the Rhodes piano, and took advantage of the new polyphonic synthesizers to contribute thick pads, foreshadowing ambient music.

Blow-Up is a soundtrack album by Herbie Hancock featuring music composed for Michelangelo Antonioni's cult film Blow-Up, released in 1966. Musically the songs evoke the ambience of swinging Sixties' London with grooves that create effective bluesy Jazz moods on the slow pieces, and funky ones on the up-tempo tracks.

The album features performances by Hancock on keys, Freddie Hubbard and Joe Newman on trumpet, Phil Woods and Joe Henderson on sax, Ron Carter on bass and Jack DeJohnette on drums. Rumours go that either the fabled Jimmy Smith or Paul Griffin played the Hammond organ on this record.

Rock fans remember the film and the soundtrack for the inclusion of a rare Yardbirds number, "Stroll On" (actually, an adaptation of Tiny Bradshaw's "The Train Kept A-Rollin'"), one of only three songs they recorded with both Jeff Beck and Jimmy Page on guitars. The bassline to "Bring Down The Birds" was sampled by Deee-Lite for their 1990 hit single "Groove Is In The Heart" featuring Bootsy Collins.

Every single tune on this album from the haunting "Maiden Voyage" to the gentle, swinging "Dolphin Dance" has found its way into the standard jazz repertoire. Herbie Hancock fashioned a modern jazz milestone with extraordinary compositions, interplay and solos.

Originally released in 1965.

Herbie Hancock, piano
Ron Carter, bass
George Coleman, tenor saxophone
Freddie Hubbard, trumpet
Anthony Williams, drums

This title is not eligible for discount.

Reissued for the First Time Since 1973!

Herbie Hancock is one of the most prolific jazz pianists of the 20th century. A child prodigy, he played with the greats such as Donald Byrd and Miles Davis. He was one of the first to embrace and master the electric piano, but he always stayed true to the acoustic sound. In fact, he always bounced back and forth between his electronic and acoustic sound, touching upon almost every development in R&B, Funk and Jazz while retaining an original and distinctive voice.

Sextant from 1973 was recorded just before Head Hunters, and can be seen in the same vein, but it's more than just an introduction to a masterpiece. It features a kind of post-modal, free impressionism while gracing the edges of funk. Three long instrumental tracks explore how far minimalism in jazz can go.

After his early avant-garde years with Blue Note Records, Herbie Hancock achieved much success with pop music fans by gradually turning towards a mixture of Afro-American styles in which he combined soul, jazz and funk. Having composed the soundtrack to Bill Cosby’s animated children’s show "Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids" and released a popular family-orientated album entitled "Fat Albert Rotunda", Hancock stated that instead of looking for jazz musicians who could play funky music, he had searched for funk musicians with a feeling for jazz. That this concept functions only too well is demonstrated in the funky album "Man-Child", which features such brilliant jazz musicians as Wayne Shorter, Bennie Maupin and Ernie Watts. But wait! There’s no narcissistic showing off here as in a jam session. The whole band performs as one, playing concentrated grooves around Hancock’s carefully intertwined electronic sounds. The result is a fast-paced funky style, due to the collective efforts of the band, although each member is given ample opportunity to show off his prowess in short solo interludes and thus delight the listener with his unique style.

Musicians:

• Bud Brisbois (trumpet)
• Garnett Brown (trombone)
• Dick Hyde (tuba, bass trombone)
• Wayne Shorter (soprano saxophone)
• Bennie Maupin (soprano saxophone, tenor saxophone, saxello, bass clarinet, flute)
• Jim Horn (saxes, flute)
• Stevie Wonder (harmonica)
• Herbie Hancock (keyboard)
• David T. Walker (guitar)
• Wah Wah Watson (guitar, voice bag, synthesizer)
• Henry Davis (electric bass)
• James Gadson (drums)
• Bill Summers (percussion)

Recording: July 1975 at Wally Heider Recording Studios, San Francisco / Village Recorders, Los Angeles / Funky Features, San Francisco / Crystal Studios, Los Angeles
Production: David Rubinson & Friends Inc. and Herbie Hancock

About Speakers Corner

At the beginning of the 90s, in the early days of audiophile vinyl re-releases, the situation was fairly straightforward. Companies such as DCC, Mobile Fidelity, Classic Records and, of course, Speakers Corner all maintained a mutual, unwritten ethical code: we would only use analogue tapes to manufacture records.

During the course of the present vinyl hype, many others have jumped on the bandwagon in the hope of securing a corner of the market. Very often they are not so ethical and use every imaginable source to master from: CDs, LPs, digital files, MP3s – or employed existant tools from the 80s and 90s for manufacturing.

A digital delay is gladly used when cutting a lacquer disc because tape machines with an analogue delay have become quite rare and are therefore expensive. When cutting the lacquer, the audio signal is delayed by one LP revolution against the signal, which controls the cutter head, and for this a digital delay is very often employed. Of course, the resultant sound signal is completely digital and thus only as good as this delay.

We should like to emphasise that Speakers Corner Records on principle only uses the original master tape as the basis for the entirely analogue cutting of lacquer discs. In addition, the pressing tool is newly manufactured as a matter of principle. We have one digital recording in our catalogue (Alan Parsons / Eye In The Sky“), but even in this particular case we used the analogue tapes for cutting.

We only employ existing tools for manufacturing if an improved result is not forthcoming, e.g. the title Elvis Is Back, which was mastered by Steve Hoffman and Kevin Gray, or several titles from our Philips Classics series, which in any case Willem Makkee cut from the original masters at the Emil Berliner Studios in the 90s. It goes without saying that we only used the mother and that new tools were made for our production.

To put it in a nutshell: we can ensure you that our releases are free from any kind of digital effects – excluding the exception above – and that the lacquer discs are newly cut.