Maiden Voyage (The Rudy Van Gelder Edition)

This was the first Herbie Hancock recording I purchased after The Essential Herbie Hancock. I love everything Blue Note and Rudy Van Gelder, and since I was working on learning the title track, I decided to see what other sorts of tunes Herbie was composing at the time. I think this is probably one of Hancock's most approachable recordings, and while not all five tracks are sparkling lyrical wonders, there's nothing here that might be considered a "throw away track". The title track and Dolphin Dance will stay with you all day after just one listening. This is classic jazz and a great starting point for jazz and Hancock fans.

Great jazz album from the '60s. This one belongs high up in the pantheon of jazz albums that include Miles Davis's Kind of Blue, John Coltrane's Blue Train, and Speak No Evil by Wayne Shorter. If you feel that these other albums are essiential jazz listening, then you will certainly enjoy 'Maiden Voyage' by Herbie Hancock, and you will see why people still rave about this album today.
If you are an experienced jazz fan then you will most definately already have an opinion on this album, but if you are just getting into jazz then this album should certainly be on your 'to buy' list. Firm five stars from me!

What we have here is an album that fails to live up to the standards that the first two and last tracks set. I'd rather hear Miles Davis' version of Little One found on E.S.P. - this one just plods along for a seeming eternity. So does Survival of the Fittest. Both okay songs - neither of them are bad, that's for sure - but they could've seen to be shorter. That's why I don't see Maiden Voyage as being on the same level of Empyrean Isles. It's just not.
Now for the good news. The three well-known pieces on this album make it worth the buy. The title track is the token easygoing blues groover (i.e. Watermelon Man and Canteloupe Island) with a simple theme that's hard to get out of your head nonetheless. Next up is the frenetic Eye of the Hurricane, which provides a perfect contrast. Third and final is the quiet ballad Dolphin Dance, a gorgeous thing that rules as much as the other two I mentioned. And that Hancock covers such a wide range of emotions on this record is another point towards it.
So I like this album, and like many others this was my first exposure to Herbie Hancock. But he's put out at least one better record, arguably two (Headhunters also makes the list).

I feel the salty smell of the sea when I listen to this album.

My family and myself heard an interpretation of the title
track in a cafe, in a small town on the "Pacific Coast Frontier".
The wave of the melody swept over me like the evening fog.

Absolutely amazing..

Why go to a lot of trouble to discuss in depth one of the greatest jazz albums ever crafted?

Well, let me just say:

If you consider yourself a Jazz Fan. . .then you NEED this album.

It is not the ONLY ALBUM . . .or anything like that. . .but this continues to be an influence on anyone serious about jazz.

It is one of the twenty greatest jazz albums of all time.

Chris Tune