MAIDEN VOYAGE

I must admit that when it comes to traditional Jazz like "Kind Of Blue" by Miles Davis it's like throwing pearls to swine as far as my appreciation of it goes. Just not a fan at all. In fact any music from the fifties and early sixties is for me like watching a black and white TV screen. The colour came (when it comes to Jazz) in the later sixties with "In A Silent Way" or even better "Elastic Rock"(NUCLEUS) from 1970. I guess my growing up on heavy music like SABBATH, ZEPPELIN, RUSH and AC/DC sort of spoiled me for the so called finer things in music. I wouldn't change a thing though. So you can imagine my hesitation at getting "Maiden Voyage" from Herbie Hancock. Hesitation because it was released in 1965. Now I knew "A Love Supreme" by Coltrane was released the same year but I was worried about this Hancock album being too traditional. I saw it a few weeks ago in a used record shop and again went over the lineup with Hancock on piano, Williams on drums, Hubbard on trumpet, Coleman on sax and Carter on bass and decided I was going for it. This album is considered a classic by most Jazz enthusiasts and after many listens I have to admit it's pretty good. I like it better than "Kind Of Blue" but I still wouldn't be giving this 4 stars if it wasn't for the opening track which for me is by far the best song on here.

"Maiden Voyage" opens with the piano and drums standing out and when the trumpet comes in i'm smiling and thinking of NUCLEUS. This is easy going and beautiful. "The Eye Of The Hurricane" is uptempo with lots going on. Piano and bass come to the fore before 3 1/2 minutes as the drums continue.The brass is back 5 1/2 minutes in. "Little One" is laid back as horns and piano casually take turns leading.

"Survival Of The Fittest" is where Williams puts on a bit of a show before it kicks in with horns to an uptempo mode. Another brief drum show around 3 1/2 minutes. A piano solo before 7 minutes. "Dolphin Dance" is relaxed throughout. By the way this is an instrumental concept album about the sea. As Herbie says in the liner notes "This music attempts to capture it's vastness and majesty, the splendor of a sea-going vessel on it's maiden voyage, the graceful beauty of the playful dolphins, the constant struggle for survival of even the tiniest of sea creatures, and the awesome destructive power of the hurricane, nemesis of seamen". That's what's up !

Barely 4 stars.