Recorded after the funky
fusion of
Head Hunters,
Thrust,
Sextant, and other electric albums, and before the dawn of
"Rockit" and more commercially viable and
hip-hop-oriented material,
Herbie Hancock took time out in 1978 to touch base again with his piano. Recorded completely solo, this set was issued only in Japan as the truly awful
Feets, Don't Fail Me Now was issued stateside. A curious set, the first half of the album features
Hancock playing
jazz standards in truly elegant and restrained fashion. His treatments of
"My Funny Valentine," "Green Dolphin Street," and
"Someday My Prince Will Come" -- all tracks he performed as part of
the Miles Davis Quintet -- are elongated, morphed, and beautifully woven together as a suite. The latter half of the recording is comprised of four tracks,
"Harvest Time," "Sonrisa," "Manhattan Island," and
"Blue Otani," all of which are originals. These pieces are concerned with
Hancock's preoccupation with the piano as a solo instrument. They are composed as formalist treatments that are extrapolated upon at several different junctures, or "turning points," within them. They embody notions of
classical music a la
Anton Webern,
blues,
Erroll Garner's lyrical phrasing, and
Bill Evans' harmonic sensibilities. They are, in sum, inseparable from one another and are usually performed as a suite. This is a stunning triumph for
Hancock, and it's too bad that the album has never been issued in the U.S., as it would undoubtedly be a popular addition to his vast catalog. About the closest one can come are the tracks from here included in
The Herbie Hancock Box. Maybe someday. ~ Thom Jurek
