Herbert Jeffrey Hancock is an American jazz pianist, keyboardist, bandleader, and composer. Hancock started his career with trumpeter Donald Byrd's group. He shortly thereafter joined the Miles Davis Quintet, where he helped to redefine the role of a jazz rhythm section and was one of the primary architects of the post-bop sound. In the 1970s, Hancock experimented with jazz fusion, funk, and electro styles, using a wide array of synthesizers and electronics. It was during this period that he released perhaps his best-known and most influential album, Head Hunters.
Anthony Tillmon Williams was an American jazz drummer. Williams first gained fame as a member of Miles Davis' "Second Great Quintet", and later pioneered jazz fusion with Davis' group and his own combo, the Tony Williams Lifetime. In 1970, music critic Robert Christgau described him as "probably the best drummer in the world". Williams was inducted into the Modern Drummer Hall of Fame in 1986.
Maiden Voyage is the fifth album led by jazz musician Herbie Hancock, and was recorded by Rudy Van Gelder on March 17, 1965, for Blue Note Records. It was issued as BLP 4195 and BST 84195. Featuring Hancock with tenor saxophonist George Coleman, trumpeter Freddie Hubbard, bassist Ron Carter and drummer Tony Williams, it is a concept album aimed at creating an oceanic atmosphere. As such, many of the track titles refer to marine biology or the sea, and the musicians develop the concept through their use of space. The album was presented with the Grammy Hall of Fame Award in 1999.
Filles de Kilimanjaro is a studio album by American jazz trumpeter Miles Davis. It was recorded in June and September 1968, and released on Columbia Records. It was released in the United Kingdom by the company's subsidiary Columbia (CBS) in 1968 and in the United States during February 1969. The album is a transitional work for Davis, who was shifting stylistically from acoustic recordings with his "second great quintet" to his electric period. Filles de Kilimanjaro was well received by contemporary music critics, who viewed it as a significant release in modern jazz. Pianist Chick Corea and bassist Dave Holland appear together on two tracks, their first participation on a Davis album.
E.S.P. is an album by Miles Davis, recorded on January 20–22, 1965 and released on August 16 of that year by Columbia Records. It is the first release from what is known as Davis's second great quintet: Davis on trumpet, Wayne Shorter on tenor saxophone, Herbie Hancock on piano, Ron Carter on bass, and Tony Williams on drums. The album was named after a tune by Shorter, and was inspired by the fact that, "since Wayne Shorter's arrival, the five members of the quintet seemed to communicate by mental telepathy."
Miles Smiles is an album by jazz musician Miles Davis, released on February 16, 1967 on Columbia Records. It was recorded by Davis and his second quintet at Columbia 30th Street Studio in New York City on October 24 and October 25, 1966. It is the second of six albums recorded by Davis' second great quintet, which featured tenor saxophonist Wayne Shorter, pianist Herbie Hancock, bassist Ron Carter, and drummer Tony Williams.
Sorcerer is an album recorded in May 1967 by the Miles Davis quintet. It is the third of six albums that this quintet recorded. It also includes one track from a 1962 session with vocalist Bob Dorough, which was the first time Wayne Shorter recorded with Davis. Davis does not play on the second track, "Pee Wee". The album's cover is a profile photo of actress Cicely Tyson, who at the time was Davis's girlfriend.
Nefertiti is a studio album by American jazz musician Miles Davis, released in March 1968. Recorded on June 7, June 22–23 and July 19, 1967, at Columbia's 30th Street Studio, the album was Davis' last fully acoustic album. Davis himself did not contribute any compositions- three were written by tenor saxophonist Wayne Shorter, two by pianist Herbie Hancock and one by drummer Tony Williams.
Post-bop is a jazz term with several possible definitions and usages. Musicologist Barry Kernfeld wrote in The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians that post-bop is "a vague term, used either stylistically or chronologically to describe any continuation or amalgamation of bop, modal jazz, and free jazz; its meaning sometimes extends into swing and earlier styles or into fusion and third-world styles." The term has been variously defined as a musical period, a musical genre, a musical style, and a body of music, sometimes in different chronological periods, depending on the writer.
Circle in the Round is a 1979 compilation album by jazz musician Miles Davis. It compiled outtakes from sessions across fifteen years of Davis's career that, with one exception, had been previously unreleased. All of its tracks have since been made available on album reissues and posthumous box sets.
The Miles Davis Quintet was an American jazz band from 1955 to early 1969 led by Miles Davis. The quintet underwent frequent personnel changes toward its metamorphosis into a different ensemble in 1969. Most references pertain to two distinct and relatively stable bands: the First Great Quintet from 1955 to 1959, and the Second Great Quintet from late 1964 to early 1969, Davis being the only constant throughout.
Water Babies is a compilation album by American jazz trumpeter Miles Davis. It compiled music Davis recorded in studio sessions with his quintet in 1967 and 1968, including outtakes from his 1968 album Nefertiti and recordings that foreshadowed his direction on In a Silent Way (1969), while covering styles such as jazz fusion and post-bop. Water Babies was released by Columbia Records in 1976 after Davis had (temporarily) retired.
V.S.O.P. is a 1977 double live album by keyboardist Herbie Hancock, featuring acoustic jazz performances by the V.S.O.P. Quintet, jazz fusion/ jazz-funk performances by the ‘Mwandishi’ band and The Headhunters. The concert was advertised as a "Herbie Hancock Retrospective," and Miles Davis, who was several months into his temporary retirement, was advertised as playing with the V.S.O.P. group. According to concert attendees, on the night of the show a handwritten sign was posted on the lobby door announcing that Davis would not be playing, but that Hubbard would be appearing instead.
Miles Davis in Europe is a live album by Miles Davis, released in 1964. It was the first full album by the first incarnation of the "Second Quintet" featuring George Coleman, Herbie Hancock, Ron Carter and Tony Williams, whose first recordings with Davis had made up half of the album Seven Steps to Heaven.
The Complete Studio Recordings of The Miles Davis Quintet 1965–1968 is a box set of six CDs covering the work of Miles Davis and his critically acclaimed second great quintet which featured Wayne Shorter, Herbie Hancock, Ron Carter and Tony Williams.
V.S.O.P. was an American jazz quintet consisting of Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter, Ron Carter (bass), Tony Williams (drums), and Freddie Hubbard . Hancock, Shorter, Carter, and Williams had all been members of the Miles Davis Quintet during the 1960s.
Directions is a compilation album by American jazz musician Miles Davis, released in 1981 by Columbia Records. It collects previously unreleased outtakes that Davis recorded between 1960 and 1970. Directions was the last of a series of compilation albums - mostly consisting of, at that time, previously unreleased music - that Columbia released to bridge Davis' recording hiatus that ended with The Man with the Horn in July 1981.
Live at the 1963 Monterey Jazz Festival is a live album by Miles Davis released on July 31, 2007, and recorded in September 20, 1963. Davis searched for new musicians for his quintet, after splitting with saxophonist John Coltrane in 1960. The new quintet consists of saxophonist George Coleman, pianist Herbie Hancock, bassist Ron Carter and drummer Tony Williams. It was recorded at the Monterey Jazz Festival in the early fall of 1963.
Live in Europe 1967: The Bootleg Series Vol. 1 is a 3 CD + 1 DVD live album of Miles Davis and his "second great quintet". The CDs contain recordings of three separate concerts in Europe, and the DVD has two additional concerts from Karlsruhe and Stockholm.
Miles Davis Quintet: Freedom Jazz Dance: The Bootleg Series, Vol. 5 is a 3-CD compilation that collects studio recordings by jazz trumpeter Miles Davis that were recorded between 1966 and 1968. The album contains remastered versions, alternate takes, and conversations among the musicians.
