8 Herbie Hancock

Empyrean Isles

BLUE NOTE, 1964

You say: “If true jazz is the art of acoustic improvisation then this is a masterclass in true jazz.” Belishabeacon, via mojo4music

A quintessential post-bop LP centred around the cool modal groove of Cantaloupe Island but moving into areas complex, ambitious and experimental. Hancock’s piano playing is dazzling, incorporating everything from simple skeletal frameworks for Freddie Hubbard’s masterful cornet to light, playful dancing and wild, frantic soloing that borders on the egotistical. Apart from the aforementioned Cantaloupe Island and two beautiful mournful bass solos from Ron Carter, it’s also a bright, busy yet somewhat enervating album with a 14-minute closer, The Egg, encapsulating the group at both its most euphoric, lyrical and exhausting.