Takin' Off | ||||
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Studio album by | ||||
Released | October 1962 [1] | |||
Recorded | May 28, 1962 | |||
Studio | Van Gelder Studio, Englewood Cliffs | |||
Genre | Soul jazz, hard bop [2] | |||
Length | 39:01 | |||
Label | Blue Note | |||
Producer | Alfred Lion | |||
Herbie Hancock chronology | ||||
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Review scores | |
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Source | Rating |
Allmusic | [3] |
Down Beat | [4] |
The Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide | [5] |
The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings | [6] |
Takin' Off is the debut album by jazz pianist Herbie Hancock released in 1962 [7] by Blue Note Records. The album features veteran tenor saxophonist Dexter Gordon, trumpeter Freddie Hubbard, bassist Butch Warren and drummer Billy Higgins. The album is a creative example of music in the hard bop idiom. [8] The bluesy track "Watermelon Man" made it to the Top 100 of the singles charts, [8] and went on to become a jazz standard. Hancock released a funk arrangement of “Watermelon Man” on his 1973 album Head Hunters . Takin' Off was initially released on CD in 1996 and then again in remastered form in 2007 by Rudy Van Gelder.
All compositions by Herbie Hancock.
Side one
Side two
Bonus tracks on CD reissue
Edward Rudolph "Butch" Warren Jr. was an American jazz bassist who was active during the 1950s and 1960s.
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.
Speak No Evil is the sixth album by Wayne Shorter. It was released in June 1966 by Blue Note Records. The music combines elements of hard bop and modal jazz, and features Shorter on tenor saxophone, trumpeter Freddie Hubbard, pianist Herbie Hancock, bassist Ron Carter and drummer Elvin Jones. The cover photo is of Shorter's first wife, Teruko (Irene) Nakagami, whom he met in 1961.
Vertigo is an album by American saxophonist Jackie McLean, recorded in 1962 and 1963 but not released on the Blue Note label until 1980. The initial release contained only the five tracks from 1963, while the later 2000 limited CD edition, released as part of the "Connoisseur Series", added six tracks from a 1962 session originally marked for release as Jackie McLean Quintet, first issued in 1978 as part of a double LP entitled Hipnosis.
"Watermelon Man" is a jazz standard written by Herbie Hancock for his debut album, Takin' Off (1962).
My Point of View is the second album by pianist Herbie Hancock. It was released in 1963 on Blue Note Records as BLP 4126 and BST 84126. Musicians featured are trumpeter Donald Byrd, trombonist Grachan Moncur III, tenor saxophonist Hank Mobley, guitarist Grant Green, bassist Chuck Israels and drummer Tony Williams.
Red Clay is an album recorded in 1970 by jazz trumpeter Freddie Hubbard. It was his first album on Creed Taylor's CTI label and marked a shift toward the soul-jazz fusion sounds that would dominate his recordings in the later part of the decade. It entered at number 20 on Billboard’s Top 20 Best Selling Jazz LPs, on June 20, 1970.
Hub-Tones is an album by trumpeter Freddie Hubbard recorded on October 10, 1962, and released on the Blue Note label as BLP 4115 and BST 84115. It contains performances by Hubbard, James Spaulding, Herbie Hancock, Reggie Workman and Clifford Jarvis. The cover artwork was designed by Reid Miles with photography by Francis Wolff.
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.
Straight No Filter is an album by jazz saxophonist Hank Mobley, recorded mostly in 1963 but not released on the Blue Note label until 1985. The CD edition compiles performances recorded at four different sessions from 1963 to 1966.
No Room for Squares is an album by jazz tenor saxophonist Hank Mobley recorded on March 7 & October 2, 1963 and released on the Blue Note label. It features performances by Mobley, trumpeters Lee Morgan and Donald Byrd, pianists Andrew Hill and Herbie Hancock, bassists John Ore and Butch Warren, and drummer Philly Joe Jones. Material recorded at the March 7 session was also included on The Turnaround! with the entire session collected for the first time on the 1989 CD edition of Straight No Filter. The 1989 CD issue of No Room for Squares collects the entire October 7 session save an alternate take of "Carolyn" that was first issued in 2019 as part of The Complete Hank Mobley Blue Note Sessions 1963-70.
The Turnaround! is an album by jazz tenor saxophonist Hank Mobley recorded on March 7, 1963 and on February 4, 1965. It was released in 1965 by Blue Note Records. It features performances by Mobley with trumpeter Donald Byrd, pianist Herbie Hancock, bassist Butch Warren and drummer Philly Joe Jones from the earlier session and trumpeter Freddie Hubbard, pianist Barry Harris, bassist Paul Chambers and drummer Billy Higgins from the latter.
Blue Spirits is an album by trumpeter Freddie Hubbard released on the Blue Note label. It would be his last studio album for Blue Note, recorded in the 1960s. It features performances by Hubbard, James Spaulding, Joe Henderson, Harold Mabern, Jr., Larry Ridley, Clifford Jarvis, Big Black, Kiane Zawadi, Hank Mobley, McCoy Tyner, Bob Cranshaw, Pete LaRoca. The CD release added tracks from a 1966 session featuring Hosea Taylor, Herbie Hancock, Reggie Workman, and Elvin Jones.
Round Midnight is a soundtrack album by Herbie Hancock featuring music recorded for Bertrand Tavernier's film Round Midnight released in 1986 on Columbia Records. The album features performances by Hancock, trumpeter Freddie Hubbard, bassist Ron Carter, drummer Tony Williams, vocalist Bobby McFerrin, tenor saxophonist Dexter Gordon, bassist Pierre Michelot, drummer Billy Higgins, guitarist John McLaughlin, trumpeter/vocalist Chet Baker, vibraphonist Bobby Hutcherson, saxophonist Wayne Shorter, vocalist Lonette McKee, and pianist Cedar Walton, most of whom appear in the film. It won the Academy Award for Best Music, Original Score in 1986, beating Ennio Morricone's The Mission and Jerry Goldsmith's Hoosiers, among others. Additional music recorded during the making of the film was released under Dexter Gordon's name as The Other Side of Round Midnight (1986).
Royal Flush is an album by American jazz trumpeter Donald Byrd recorded on September 21, 1961 and released on Blue Note the following year. Byrd's quintet features saxophonist Pepper Adams and rhythm section Herbie Hancock, Butch Warren and Billy Higgins.
Free Form is an album by American trumpeter Donald Byrd featuring Byrd with Wayne Shorter, Herbie Hancock, Butch Warren, and Billy Higgins recorded in 1961 and released on the Blue Note label later in 1966. It was remastered in 2003 and reissued on CD. On the CD reissue, the original stereo release is erroneously given as "BST 84106" instead of BST 84118.
The Other Side of Round Midnight is an album by American jazz saxophonist Dexter Gordon recorded in 1985 and released on the Blue Note label. The album was recorded during the making of Bertrand Tavernier's 1986 film Round Midnight, and it consists of tracks that were not included in the Academy Award-winning soundtrack album for the film. The album features the last recordings released under Gordon's name, produced and arranged by Herbie Hancock.
Contours is the second album by American saxophonist Sam Rivers recorded in 1965 and released on the Blue Note label. The CD reissue contains an alternate take as a bonus track.
Generation is an album by saxophonist Dexter Gordon which was recorded in 1972 and released on the Prestige label.
...Takin' Off was a typical hard bop LP...