Herbie Hancock started his career on a high note with the sophisticated jazz of this soulful soaring prolegomenon. Hancock was a child prodigy who performed Mozart at the age of eleven. During his teens he became enamored with jazz and secured a recording contract with Blue Note Records. 'Takin' Off' was recorded in one session on May 28, 1962 and produced by one of the founders of the label Alfred Lion at the studio of engineer Rudy Van Gelder in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey. The session featured Hancock on piano with accompaniment by Blue Note heavies Dexter Gordon on tenor saxophone, Freddie Hubbard on trumpet, bassist Butch Warren and Billy Higgins on drums. 'Takin' Off' didn't chart; but it was so well received that Miles Davis asked Hancock to join his Second Great Quintet.
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Hancock says: "In reflecting on my childhood, I recalled the cry of the watermelon man making his rounds through the back streets and alleys of Chicago's south side. The wheels of his wagon beat out the rhythm on the cobblestones."
'Takin' Off'
full album:
All compositions by Herbie Hancock.
"Watermelon Man" – 7:09
"Three Bags Full" – 5:27
"Empty Pockets" – 6:09
"The Maze" – 6:45
"Driftin'" – 6:58
"Alone and I" – 6:25
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