Herbie Hancock - Sly (1973)

Happy birthday Herbie!

This number—dedicated to Sly Stone—really has it all. Bennie Maupin’s soprano sax is fiery, but it is Harvey Mason’s revolutionary drumming that steals the show.

Freddie Hubbard - For Spee’s Sake (1962)

Another crowd-pleasing burner from one of the greatest.

Happy birthday “Hub.” 

Jackie McLean - Das’ Dat (1964)

From allmusic’s review:

McLean’s butt funky “Das’ Dat,” which follows, owes a debt to Horace Silver to be sure, but the blues element, which is in the tune’s head, is pure Jackie McLean. McLean’s own playing isn’t particularly adventurous, though he pushes his tone to the limits at times. He swings tough with the hard bop sensibility that put him on the label in the first place, and “Das’ Dat” is the most enjoyable thing here.

From all about jazz:

“Das’ Dat” - a pretty straight blues in Bb - enters as if to remind listeners from where McLean’s music comes. Hancock’s solo and comping on this are revealing; he plays right inside the tune, with only the slightest references to the more exploratory playing elsewhere on the recording.

I’d put this under-the-radar LP up there among Herbie Hancock’s finest moments. Repeated listens reveal additional harmonic complexities and stunningly sympathetic interactions.

Lee Morgan - Search For The New Land (1964)

I had to compress this mp3 file significantly to fit the 10MB limit, so apologies for the less than stellar audio quality. This 15-minute tour de force, however, is worth the occasional tinniness of the drumkit. 

Enjoy this ensemble for the ages, which presses every available modal button to create what is arguably one of the definitive statements in 60s jazz.

More from this date here. 

Lee Morgan - The Procrastinator (1967)

This record is a late 60s emerald that languished in the Blue Note vaults, to be dusted off in the 80s via Michael Cuscuna’s meticulous archiving. The session reveals a remarkable gathering of players that included 3/5ths of Miles Davis’ second great quintet: Wayne Shorter and Lee Morgan, reprising their frontline status with the Jazz Messengers, and a rhythm section of Herbie Hancock, vibist Bobby Hutcherson, Ron Carter and Blue Note house drummer Billy Higgins. This band, on any other day, is an all-time all-star event, but for (likely commercial) reasons that will remain with producer Alfred Lion, the session was summarily shelved.

The Hancock solo deserved a better fate!

Miles Davis - Four (1964)

This quintet reaches the outer limits of group interplay and blistering pace on this LP, limits beyond which only immortals can hope to journey.

Hank Mobley - Up a Step (1963)

Philly Joe Jones was so on for this session—a session that includes some of my favorite all-time jazz cuts—it becomes a musical moment in time where a player lifts the playing of everyone around him into the stratosphere. The rat-a-tat-tat of the snare drum is so singular, you know it can’t be anyone else back there behind the trap kit. 

This cut—recorded a few days after Mobley participated in Donald Byrd’s A New Perspective and a few days before he contributed to Herbie Hancock’s My Point of View—captures Mobley’s hard bop at its zenith, with a hard-swinging head, deft soloing from Byrd and Hancock, and Mobley’s about face to a more economical, austere mid-60s solo approach, sacrificing more notes for more feeling.

George Coleman during Herbie Hancock’s Maiden Voyage session, Englewood Cliffs NJ, March 17 1965 (photo by Francis Wolff)

Sam Rivers - Point of Many Returns (1965)

This cut absolutely simmers thanks to the impeccable musicians on hand [Hubbard, Hancock, Carter, Chambers!], but it is Rivers’ angular writing—which maintains a deep driving pulse even as it wanders astray—and his transcendent soprano solo that steal the show.

Thank you, Sam Rivers.

Grant Green and Herbie Hancock, unknown session [my guess is Green’s Feelin’ The Spirit] (photo by Francis Wolff)