Freddie Hubbard (cornet), Herbie Hancock (piano), Ron Carter (bass) and Tony Williams (drums). From the album Empyrean Isles (1964).

In this album, Herbie Hancock composed all the tracks and made it so that they sounded more like improvisations in which each instrument has a great flexibility of interpretation rather than an ensemble simply playing melodies. In many cases no melodic line was placed on the chords so that the trumpeter could play any melody he wished. Here we can find hard bop, modal jazz, funk and avant-garde, extending the limits of the group.

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Album cover

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Since it’s a quartet, Hancock plays the harmonies and Hubbard the melodies, and “One Finger Snap” and “Cantaloupe Island” have become jazz standards. The great thing about this album is that each musician really shines individualy and tries his best. When Hancock recorded this album, he had already been playing with Miles Davis for over a year, which gives an idea of how much he had taken advantage of the freedom Davis offered him and the experience he had gained.

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Herbie Hancock

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The theme consists of a short melody performed in unison, Hubbard plays several phrases and the short melody is repeated. Hubbard enters right away to make his solo at medium-fast tempo with a determined and daring discourse, perfectly chaining his unforeseen phrases. For a while Hancock stops accompanying him and leaves him to recreate himself at his leisure, and then returns. Hancock follows with an energetic and exciting speech maintaining a great rapport with Carter and Williams. His melodic line is continuous with a sporadic incorporation of chords to consolidate the solidity of the solo. They then re-expose the theme, but then they let Williams make a creative solo at full speed using mostly the drums, and to collide they end up with a final sentence.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=udCbtl7YEf4

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© Blue Note Records

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