Herbie Hancock
Inventions & Dimentions

It's 1963: Herbie Hancock is permanently part of Miles Davis's combo, as permanent as the life of a jazz musician can be, especially at the court of the Prince of Darkness. Meanwhile, the keyboard nightingale takes his first timid but wise and prudent steps out of the cage, recording two true monoliths: "Takin' Off" and "My Point of View" as a leader, immediately establishing himself as one of the most original voices in jazz piano of all time.

Alongside these more or less 'orthodox' releases, there's a truly peculiar gem hidden in a corner and a little dusty: "Inventions & Dimensions." This album represents Herbie's attempt to meet the urgent desire to find new, alternative but valid destinations for Jazz, possibly by traveling down risky paths.

Various artists torment themselves to achieve the goal. Some dedicate themselves to 'Third Stream' experiments: a short-lived attempt to merge Classical music and Jazz; see however "The Rise and the Fall of the Third Stream," by Zawinul, which today is available at a good price, also alongside another beautiful LP "Money in the Pocket," Joe's first real debut, on a single CD. Others attempt to break through cultural and racial walls and barriers with 'Free Jazz,' opening an ordeal of controversies and suspicions, often quite justified, and adding fuel to the fire of cultural division and intolerance. Others resort to the heavy use of acids and many of them will lose themselves at a young age. Herbie, already in 1963 a musical brain and quite an intellectual, cultivating his mental garden in a healthy way, decides to go, with this recording, against the "assumptions," that is, against canonical rules.

With nothing written, only chord traces for "Mimosa"; everything else is improvised on the spot. Rudy Van Gelder, with his studio, patience, and expertise, is available for an afternoon. The musicians chosen for the occasion are the top of the moment: Paul Chambers, recommended by Davis, on double bass, as well as two musicians more Latin than true 'jazz cats' (but still very talented and versatile): Willie Bobo and Osvaldo 'Chihuahua' Martinez; the first on drums and timbales, and the second on congas and bongos. This tip about using two rhythms, rather than one, furthermore Latin rather than a single 'standard-jazz' drummer, also comes from Davis. The only instruction given by Herbie to his musicians for the session was to think 'differently' and try to be as much as possible 'free' from any harmonic, melodic, or temporal constraint.

Openness and instant listening, attentive to capturing nuances and hints of change. Anyway, this album constitutes the most classic proof of the absolute validity of music 'developed' together, with artists interacting with each other with 'harmonic' and not 'dissonant' intentions compared to experiments that, praised at the time, will ultimately prove to be without substance and without any future: man is a social animal. Period. To this day, in fact, this album is enjoyable, logical, and very, very musical. Herbie sometimes (often!) uses the tonal center of Mr. 'P.C.' (as from the piece dedicated to him by Trane) bass lines as one of the component notes of the chords he forms from time to time. Exploiting the instant synergy in a commendable way, he 'dances' all around and creates beautiful phrases that together constitute the improvisation and the core of the piece. The 'time' of the performances, as the only reference given to the musicians, is 'counted' at the beginning by Herbie (one, two; one two three four), but is developed, guarded, and altered with fresh figures or changes by the two percussionists, whose contribution is essential to determining the entire creative mood and pacing of the tracks: Triangle, for example, is named so because it's a piece divided into three parts, a start in 4/4, a central part exiting out (no one knows how!) in 12/8 and a closure again in 4/4!

Thirty years ago, at eleven o'clock in the evening, for those who remember, there was a beautiful radio program entitled "Jazz, Improvisation and Creativity in Music"; probably the title came to the authors' minds after listening to records like this. To be purchased immediately.

This too was taken on eBay for a few bucks. The positive but perverse side of globalization!

Tracks:
1) Succotash
2) Triangle
3) Jack Rabbit
4) Mimosa
5) A Jump Ahead