7/4 Posted July 11, 2011 Report Share Posted July 11, 2011 Speak Like a Child because it's a recent discovery. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan Gould Posted July 11, 2011 Report Share Posted July 11, 2011 'Takin' Off' was a stunning debut album and one of Dexter Gordon's classic contribution to a very basic, very beautiful date. Seconded. I may have boring, pedestrian hard-bop tastes but this is the indispensible Herbie-on-BN for me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mracz Posted July 11, 2011 Report Share Posted July 11, 2011 I like them all, but I'm with the majority on Maiden Voyage as a first choice. The title track was a theme tune on WLIB in the late 60s-early 70s when I started listening to jazz in the NY metropolitan area (was it Ed Michel?), and as so many have said already in this post, first exposure often seals it. I love Freddie's solo on the title track, especially when he gets into the long fast runs towards the end, and Tony starts to stoke the fires... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chewy-chew-chew-bean-benitez Posted July 12, 2011 Report Share Posted July 12, 2011 my point of view Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shawn Posted July 12, 2011 Report Share Posted July 12, 2011 It may be a "boring" choice, but I had to go with Maiden Voyage. That album still gets me like the very first time I heard it. Also, another thumbs up to the bonus tracks on Speak Like A Child, that box set really opened my eyes to that session. I like them all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jazzbo Posted July 12, 2011 Report Share Posted July 12, 2011 Inventions&Dimensions for me. I play this one not as much, but it's the most interesting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikeweil Posted July 12, 2011 Report Share Posted July 12, 2011 (edited) They are all so different, stylistically ... but if I had to choose only one, it would be The Prisoner, because the writing is just as brilliant as the playing, and the personnel is one to dream of. Edited July 12, 2011 by mikeweil Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave James Posted July 12, 2011 Report Share Posted July 12, 2011 'Takin' Off' was a stunning debut album and one of Dexter Gordon's classic contribution to a very basic, very beautiful date. Seconded. I may have boring, pedestrian hard-bop tastes but this is the indispensible Herbie-on-BN for me. DItto. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter Friedman Posted July 12, 2011 Report Share Posted July 12, 2011 'Takin' Off' was a stunning debut album and one of Dexter Gordon's classic contribution to a very basic, very beautiful date. Seconded. I may have boring, pedestrian hard-bop tastes but this is the indispensible Herbie-on-BN for me. DItto. I am with Dan and Dave, "Takin' Off" is my favorite. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan Gould Posted July 12, 2011 Report Share Posted July 12, 2011 Don't forget Brownie too! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sundog Posted July 12, 2011 Report Share Posted July 12, 2011 Inventions&Dimensions for me. I play this one not as much, but it's the most interesting. I was wondering when someone would mention this one. I play this often. It's a really interesting album. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leeway Posted July 12, 2011 Report Share Posted July 12, 2011 MAIDEN VOYAGE Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JSngry Posted July 12, 2011 Report Share Posted July 12, 2011 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chuck Nessa Posted July 12, 2011 Report Share Posted July 12, 2011 For me they all have interesting components but none of them is "great" in my book. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Noj Posted July 12, 2011 Report Share Posted July 12, 2011 Maiden Voyage is special to me since I acquired it very early in my collecting, and it didn't register with me at first. I bought it hoping it was like Headhunters, and when it didn't have that same electric funk vibe I was disappointed. I shelved it, returned to it later on after my ears grew some, and loved it. Inventions & Dimensions is outstanding. "Mimosa" is a favorite. I was reading this thread the other night and was shocked to see I don't yet have Takin' Off, something I intend to rectify ASAP. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillF Posted July 13, 2011 Report Share Posted July 13, 2011 IMHO Maiden Voyage is a classic and one of Blue Note's very best albums. I bought it on its release and heard the tune played live when Freddie Hubbard toured here with the Ronnie Scott Quartet not long after the recording. I saw Herbie play it at the time of his mass popular appeal when I went to see him with what seemed like a rock group. Fortunately, his massive barrage of speakers failed and to my delight and the obvious disappointment of his youthful fans he filled in with a very extended version of "Maiden Voyage" on solo electric piano! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rooster_Ties Posted July 13, 2011 Author Report Share Posted July 13, 2011 (edited) For me they all have interesting components but none of them is "great" in my book. If you would, Chuck -- care to elucidate on which components are interesting for you? 8 years since starting this thread, I think Speak Like a Child and The Prisoner are still my personal favorites. Speak like a Child isn't particularly radical, though the instrumentation is unique - but it's still my 'go to' album for certain moods. And The Prisoner still has a bite to it, an uneasiness, nervousness, or maybe unsettledness about it -- that seems to always draw me in. I also like the arrangements and greater 'arranged' quality of the whole proceedings. Edited July 13, 2011 by Rooster_Ties Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikeweil Posted July 13, 2011 Report Share Posted July 13, 2011 (edited) Chuck's remarks made me think, and I tend to agree. Herbie has a type of perfectionist, controlling side on his albums as a leader. Some would come off better if he would let his sidemen cut loose a little more. I think he played some of his best solos when he was not in charge. I think his greatest albums ever are Mwandishi and Crossings, because there is a balance between composition and brilliant soloing on them. Slightly off topic, but try Larry Willis' A Tribute to Someone for an album I wish Herbie would have made ... Inventions & Dimensions (reissued as Succotash) is a very interesting LP, but I don't think it's a "great" album. But it shows how deep Herbie's connection with rhythm and his understanding of African roots are. Edited July 13, 2011 by mikeweil Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sundog Posted July 13, 2011 Report Share Posted July 13, 2011 I don't know if any of these albums are great (what ever that means), but am I the only one who thinks they are influential? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shawn Posted July 13, 2011 Report Share Posted July 13, 2011 Some would come off better if he would let his sidemen cut loose a little more. I think he played some of his best solos when he was not in charge. This sentence would apply perfectly to most of Shorter's Blue Note albums as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chuck Nessa Posted July 13, 2011 Report Share Posted July 13, 2011 True. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EyeSpeech Posted July 14, 2011 Report Share Posted July 14, 2011 (edited) They are all so different, stylistically ... but if I had to choose only one, it would be The Prisoner, because the writing is just as brilliant as the playing, and the personnel is one to dream of. I agree, maybe because the novelty still hasn't worn off. There is just so much to hear in the layers of ideas in the large(r ) ensemble, even beyond Speak Like a Child. Of course Empyrean Isles and Maiden Voyage will always have a special place in my heart. Edited July 14, 2011 by EyeSpeech Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeffcrom Posted July 14, 2011 Report Share Posted July 14, 2011 For me they all have interesting components but none of them is "great" in my book. I know what you mean, I think. But the best of them also put me in mind of an explanation of Zeno's Paradox delivered by an inspired math teacher I had in high school: A young man walks toward his girlfriend across the room. He can never actually reach her, since he will traverse half the distance to her, then half of that distance, then half of that, etc. But even if he can't actually reach her, at some point he's so close that it doesn't matter. Those HH Blue Note albums may not be great, but the best few are so close that it doesn't matter. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shawn Posted July 14, 2011 Report Share Posted July 14, 2011 For me they all have interesting components but none of them is "great" in my book. I know what you mean, I think. But the best of them also put me in mind of an explanation of Zeno's Paradox delivered by an inspired math teacher I had in high school: A young man walks toward his girlfriend across the room. He can never actually reach her, since he will traverse half the distance to her, then half of that distance, then half of that, etc. But even if he can't actually reach her, at some point he's so close that it doesn't matter. Those HH Blue Note albums may not be great, but the best few are so close that it doesn't matter. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikeweil Posted July 14, 2011 Report Share Posted July 14, 2011 I don't know if any of these albums are great (what ever that means), but am I the only one who thinks they are influential? Of course they were influential - Maiden Voyage to the mighest degree, I'd say. Some would come off better if he would let his sidemen cut loose a little more. I think he played some of his best solos when he was not in charge. This sentence would apply perfectly to most of Shorter's Blue Note albums as well. Interesting thought, but personally I think it doesn't lessen the impact on Shorter's Blue Note albums that much. But at the same time think jeffcrom nails it when he says: Those HH Blue Note albums may not be great, but the best few are so close that it doesn't matter. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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