THE HERBIE HANCOCK TRIO

Out of the surprising success of the V.S.O.P. first appearance at the Newport Jazz Festival in July of 1976, Herbie orchestrated a tour of Freddie Hubbard and four-fifths of Miles Davis' "Second Great Quintet" for the following summer. In between some concert dates in California, Herbie organized some recording time at David Rubinson's new recording studio in San Francisco--to which Tony Williams and Ron Carter showed up (and out of which, due to separate contractual obligations, arose two albums: this one from CBS/Columbia/Sony Records and another on Milestone Records attributed to Ron Carter, called Third Plane). The session conveys the musicians enthusiasm for the new V.S.O.P. collaboration--which would also culminate in several albums, live and studio, over the next few years.

1. "Watch It" (12:24) Though four of the songs are Herbie Hancock compositions (the fifth, Miles Davis' famous "Milestones") there is a very strong feeling of Tony Williams' LIFETIME in this, the opener. An amazing, jaw-dropping yet thoroughly-engaging song of dynamic Power Jazz/Jazz-Rock Fusion of the kind that Tony is so known for--but all of the performances on this song are humming along at "Eleven": virtuosos performing at the absolute peak of their powers. As a matter of fact, I find my judgment as to who's the ascendant performer swaying back and forth between Ron, Herbie, and Tony, over and over. What enthusiasm! Sublime expressions of joy and camaraderie. (25/25)

2. "Speak Like a Child" (13:04) while absolutely adore the original version of this song on the 1969 album of the same name, this one is a bit showy--especially from Herbie. It's still a great tune--and I love Ron's gnarly play on his fretless bass. Still a great song, just not the innocent and pure masterpiece that was rendered for Speak Like a Child. Though Herbie is dominant, the other two give every bit as much of their power and force as they did at any point of working with Miles in the "Second Great Quintet" (which, in my opinion, peaked with Sorcerer). (22.5/25)

3. "Watcha Waitin For" (6:19) the band members' energy seems to be waning a bit--at least Tony's--from that of that amazingly dynamic opener. Ron is still going super strong, super creative, and Herbie's doing fine; Tony just feels a little less enthused. The song is upbeat and uptempo slightly less melodic and engaging as the previous two songs. (8.875/10)

4. "Look" (7:40) an attempt at a late night cruiser is slightly diminished or led askew by both Ron and Herbie's more- enthusiastic-than-desirable play while Tony's subdued brush play on the traps is both suitable and perfect to capture the night fly. It's as if the guys want to play something for the late night crowd but two of them are still riding the high of adrenaline pumping through their system (especially Ron). Melodically, the song has quite a similar sound and feel to BRIAN JACKSON and GIL SCOTT-HERON's great "Pieces of a Man." (13.375/15)

5. "Milestones" (6:38) taking advantage of the trio's boundless energy, they decide to cover a classic Miles Davis song (now a jazz standard)--one that I'm sure they'd covered many times in live concert performances. All three of the band members are on fire throughout this but I must say that Herbie really puts on a show to display how good and how confident he's become over the years. Amazing! One of my favorite covers of this classic jazz tune! (10/10)

Total Time 46:05

A/five stars; a masterpiece of high-powered, highly-skilled acoustic jazz. HIGHLY recommended.

Social review comments

Review related links

• Send comments to BrufordFreak
• Report this review (#3207373)
• Buy HERBIE HANCOCK music online with PA partners
• Show all HERBIE HANCOCK MP3/Stream
• Go to HERBIE HANCOCK page for videos, full discography with ratings, reviews and much more
• Go to The Herbie Hancock Trio page for more details, where to buy and ratings/reviews
• Search the Forum for HERBIE HANCOCK related discussions