Herbie Hancock: Speak Like A Child (Blue Note Classic Vinyl series) [BLUE NOTE]

Why you'll love it

This Classic Vinyl series edition is mastered from the original analog tapes by Kevin Gray at Cohearent Audio, on 180g vinyl in a gatefold jacket. Hancock wrote five of the six tunes, including the title track and "The Sorcerer."

This edition

• Blue Note Classic Vinyl series
• Mastered from the original analog tapes by Kevin Gray
• 180g vinyl
• Gatefold jacket
• Pressed in the EU
• Stereo mix

About the album

The cover tells you most of what you need to know. Hancock and his wife-to-be, Gigi, kiss in silhouette, and the music inside has the same hushed, hopeful glow. He wanted a record that looked forward to a brighter future, childlike rather than childish, and that is just what he made while still a member of Miles Davis's quintet.

Thad Jones wrote the unusual horn voicings, uncredited, for flugelhorn, Jerry Dodgion's alto flute and Peter Phillips's bass trombone, and none of the horns ever take a solo. They float behind Hancock like weather, while Ron Carter and Mickey Roker keep the trio swinging underneath. "Riot" and "Speak Like a Child" are among his loveliest tunes, Ron Carter's "First Trip" and "Toys" bounce along, and the trio take "The Sorcerer" at a gallop.

Duke Pearson produced it, and Nat Hentoff heard it as a big step forward in Hancock's writing. Hancock later said he was trying to find a music somewhere between jazz and rock, which he managed a few years later, though this is the record he made while still deciding which shoes to wear.

Also at Kops: more Herbie Hancock on vinyl · browse Classic Jazz

Tracklist

Listen

On Blue Note (cat# 5832032), a reissue of the 1968 album.