3 Herbie Hancock

Maiden Voyage

BLUE NOTE, 1965

You say: “Glorious from beginning to end.” Brendan Foster, via Facebook

Recorded by what was effectively the Miles Davis Quintet (Hancock, saxophonist George Coleman, bassist Ron Carter, drummer Tony Williams) plus Freddie Hubbard on trumpet, the keyboardsman’s fifth release for Blue Note was conceived as a concept album based around spiral structures and the theme of ocean travel. As a result, Maiden

Voyage is a breezy and seductive affair, best listened to as one single hypnotic journey, with Hancock’s hard-bop piano held aloft by the gentle wash of Tony Williams’ cymbals and the smooth rudder of Ron Carter’s bass with Freddie Hubbard’s trumpet and George Coleman’s sax emulating the swirling winds and scudding clouds overhead.