Herbie Hancock – Village Life (1985/2008)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 40:39 minutes | 634 MB | Genre: Jazz
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Columbia

This is one of the more unexpected releases in Herbie Hancock’s long and storied career. While Hancock has done just about everything, and has previously incorporated African influences in his early electric work (think Mwandishi and Crossings), no one anticipated this beautiful, moving work of Afro-Pop. Paired with kora master Foday Musa Suso, Hancock improvises with aplomb melding what was then state-of-the-art digital keyboard technology with traditional instrumentation and vocals.

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Herbie Hancock – V.S.O.P. (Live) (1997/2015)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 01:27:41 minutes | 1,70 GB | Genre: Jazz, Funk
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Columbia – Legacy

V.S.O.P. is an April 1977 jazz-funk fusion live album by keyboard player Herbie Hancock featuring performances by the V.S.O.P. Quintet (Hancock, Freddie Hubbard, Wayne Shorter, Ron Carter and Tony Williams), the Mwandishi band with Eddie Henderson on two tracks, and The Headhunters featuring Bennie Maupin and Paul Jackson.

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Herbie Hancock – Thrust (1974/2014)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 38:49 minutes | 798 MB | Genre: Jazz
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Columbia – Legacy

The follow-up to the breakthrough Headhunters album was virtually as good as its wildly successful predecessor: an earthy, funky, yet often harmonically and rhythmically sophisticated tour de force. There is only one change in the Headhunters lineup — swapping drummer Harvey Mason for Mike Clark — and the switch results in grooves that are even more complex. Hancock continues to reach into the rapidly changing high-tech world for new sounds, most notably the metallic sheen of the then-new ARP string synthesizer which was already becoming a staple item on pop and jazz-rock records. Again, there are only four long tracks, three of which (“Palm Grease,” “Actual Proof,” “Spank-A-Lee”) concentrate on the funk, with plenty of Hancock’s wah-wah clavinet, synthesizer textures and effects, and electric piano ruminations that still venture beyond the outer limits of post-bop. The change-of-pace is one of Hancock’s loveliest electric pieces, “Butterfly,” a match for any tune he’s written before or since, with shimmering synth textures and Bennie Maupin soaring on soprano (Hancock would re-record it 20 years later on Dis Is Da Drum, but this is the one to hear). This supertight jazz-funk quintet album still sounds invigorating a quarter of a century later.

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Herbie Hancock – The Prisoner (1969/2014)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/192 kHz | Time – 41:16 minutes | 1,45 GB | Genre: Jazz
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Blue Note Records

Originally released as Blue Note BST 84321

“In preparing these hi def remasters, we were very conscientious about maintaining the feel of the original releases while adding a previously unattainable transparency and depth. It now sounds like you’ve set up your chaise lounge right in the middle of Rudy Van Gelder’s studio!” – Blue Note President, Don Was.

Herbie Hancock’s The Prisoner was one of his first records after leaving the Miles Davis quintet in 1968. The album was done in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King, a musical social statement focused around civil rights while exploring the vastness of the new jazz form known as post-bop. The recording features Garnett Brown on trombone, Joe Henderson on tenor saxophone and alto flute, Johnny Coles on flugelhorn, Buster Williams on bass, and Albert Heath on drums. Although post-bop wasn’t as conventional as jazz or bop, Hancock’s challenging compositions invite listeners into his world of simple melodies and emotionally austere music.

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Herbie Hancock – The Piano (1979/2013)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 52:12 minutes | 757 MB | Genre: Jazz
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Columbia – Legacy

“The Piano” is the twenty-sixth album by Herbie Hancock. As with “Directstep” (recorded one week previously), this album was recorded, and originally only released, in Japan. It was one of Hancock’s most successful albums in Japan, perhaps because it was entirely solo piano. Hancock tackles Jazz standards such as “My Funny Valentine”, “On Green Dolphin Street” and “Some Day My Prince Will Come” while also composing/performing four original songs. This album was initially released exclusively in Japan and first issued there on CD in 1983. In 2004, over 25 years after its recording, the album was released with four additional alternate takes of the same session. It was the first and only (until 2014) of Hancock’s Japanese releases available internationally.

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Herbie Hancock – The Herbie Hancock Trio ’77 (1977/2014)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 46:07 minutes | 950 MB | Genre: Jazz
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Columbia

The first V.S.O.P. tour triggered a flood of recording activity in July 1977, but only a fraction of it was released in the U.S. This session, recorded in San Francisco just days before the Quintet concerts in Berkeley and San Diego, finds Herbie Hancock, Ron Carter, and Tony Williams mixing it up sans the horns — and the results are more reflective and cerebral than the full Quintet concerts. Hancock is thoroughly in control of the agenda while Williams throws in those meter-fracturing flurries that keep everyone on their toes. There is a startling re-interpretation of “Speak Like a Child,” which is significantly tougher and busier than the wistful Blue Note version, as well as challenging Hancock originals like “Watcha Waiting For” and “Watch It.” This is uncompromising acoustic jazz, commercial anathema in the electronic ’70s — and thus, only Japan got to hear it.

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Herbie Hancock – Takin’ Off (1962/2014)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/192 kHz | Time – 39:04 minutes | 1,55 GB | Genre: Jazz
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Blue Note Records

Cover art included, liner notes not included

Masterd by Bernie Grundman at Bernie Grundman Mastering. 
At 21, Herbie Hancock was already a mature and well-traveled musician. He played Mozart with the Chicago Symphony at age 11, studied at Grinnell College and by age 20 played with Donald Byrd. Takin’ Off, his Blue Note debut, is a sophisticated showcase for Hancock’s ability as a group leader. Not as intellectually challenging or technically complex as his later recordings, the pianist nevertheless displays a restless imagination and technical verve. When he’s not striking off on funky, swinging solos, the backing chords are restrained an unassuming. He’s controlling the session and confident enough to let his soloists (Freddie Hubbard on trumpet and Dexter Gordon on tenor sax – both in fine, relaxed form) take the spotlight. From the now-legendary hit “Watermelon Man” to the reflective, noir-ish “Alone and I,” this is a great first album that foreshadows the greatness that would follow on his Blue Note masterworks, Empyrean Isles andMaiden Voyage.

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