HERBIE HANCOCK
The Herbie Hancock Box
(Columbia/Legacy)
Herbie Hancock is a certified legend of jazz. Between his amazing technique, excellent compositional skills and inherent soulfulness, he's everything you'd want a jazz musician to be. Like a lot of great jazzmen of the last half-century, he did a great deal of work for Columbia Records, before it became another cog in Sony's marketing wheel. Now Legacy is giving Hancock the box set treatment, putting the keyboardist on the bookshelf alongside Miles Davis, Charlie Christian, Thelonious Monk and other titans whose work the label has recently anthologized. With several Japanese-only tracks appearing in the U.S. for the first time and a broad overview of Hancock's many stylistic detours, The Herbie Hancock Box is a good way to dip one's toes into some mighty refreshing waters.

Disk one of this four-disk set concentrates mostly on Hancock's work with the quintet VSOP. This band formed in the 70s as Hancock reconvened his cohorts in the 60s Miles Davis Quintet—saxophonist Wayne Shorter, bassist Ron Carter and drummer Tony Williams, with trumpeter Freddie Hubbard subbing for Davis. This group's intent was not only pay tribute to but also expand upon the music of that era. "Finger Painting," "Diana" and "The Eye of the Hurricane" demonstrate VSOP's near-telepathic interplay, melodic instincts and demonic improvisational skills, with Hubbard in particular distinguishing himself. Best of all is a beautifully nuanced version of the Hancock standard "Maiden Voyage," preceded by a luminous piano intro and highlighted by marvelous solos from Hancock, Hubbard and Shorter. This disk also includes the classically-inclined piano solo "Harvest," the title song from Hancock's score for the film 'Round Midnight, featuring Bobby McFerrin on wordless vocals, and "The Sorcerer," an energized tribute to Miles that features a quartet armed with trumpet whiz Wynton Marsalis in one of his first major gigs. In a supporting position divorced from his usual jazz demagoguery, Marsalis' nifty soloing is a nice reminder of what an amazing musician he is. This track also highlights Hancock's willingness to showcase new talent—it's indicative of the pianist's thorough understanding of his instrument's capacity for support as well as lead.

The second disk has more VSOP tracks, including the grooving "Eighty-One" (featuring a greasy bass solo from Carter), the barnstorming "Domo" and a lyrical duet between Hancock and Shorter on a medley of the standards "Stella By Starlight" and "On Green Dolphin Street." There's even a never-before-issued-anywhere VSOP take on Hubbard's classic "Red Clay." But this chapter explores more of Hancock's acoustic music than just what he did with that quintet. The swinging "Dolphin Dance" and a cover of Miles' propulsive classic "Milestones" present Hancock in a trio setting, backed by Carter and Williams. Equally intriguing is "Liza (All the Clouds'll Roll Away)," taken from one of the many projects Hancock did as an acoustic duet with Chick Corea. Recorded live, "Liza" finds the two men playfully working the Gershwin melody like children, tossing it back and forth, grabbing for it at once, knocking it away and running to get it back, and just generally having a grand ol' time with a classic tune. It's a pleasure to hear two extraordinarily talented pianists move from elegant to anarchic and back again with nothing driving them except the pure joy of playing music.

Disk three starts to delve into the keyboardist's electric side. Like his mentor Miles, Hancock moved into using plugged-in instruments slowly and carefully, rather than jumping into the deep end without knowing how to swim. The quirky "Rain Dance" manifests itself from a cloud of synths and electric piano, but does so over an acoustic rhythm section featuring drummer Billy Hart and bassist Buster Williams and a horn section anchored by trumpeter Eddie Henderson, trombonist Julian Priester and woodwind-dealer Bennie Maupin. A remake of the Hancock standard "Watermelon Man" and the gorgeously shimmering "Butterfly" demonstrate the melodic side of what would become Hancock's standard electric lineup: bass, drums, percussion, Maupin's various woodwinds and Hancock's multi-keyboard wizardry. "Sun Touch" takes the same approach with the added depth of a small horn section and the infamous Wah Wah Watson on guitar. "4. A.M." mixes an almost pop-flavored melody into its synthesizer improvisations; with special guest Jaco Pastorius on bass, the track has the flavor of prime Weather Report. The jazziest track is "Actual Proof," which finds Hancock using a Yamaha electric grand piano to duel with Maupin on flute for a sizzling example of group interplay. The warm-bath R&B ballad "Come Running to Me," with its vocoder-delivered lyrics, isn't exactly one of Hancock's finest moments, but "People Music" and the surprisingly mellow title track from the film Death Wish (featuring Watson and Lee Ritenour on guitars) make up for it.

Disk four brings the funk in a big way with its opening track: the landmark fusion recording "Chameleon." Inspired by Sly & the Family Stone and James Brown, Hancock brought Maupin, bassist Paul Jackson, drummer Harvey Mason (replaced later on by Mike Clarke) and percussionist Bill Summers together as the Headhunters (also the team behind "Butterfly" and "Watermelon Man" on disk three). With its signature bassline, catchy horn riffs and relentless drive, over which Hancock displayed his synthesizer collection, the cut manages to hold listener interest over the course of its quarter-hour running time with the same pull as his extended jazz pursuits. "Chameleon" ventured further into the realm of pure funk than any jazzer had ever gone before, setting the stage for a plethora of mediocre jazz/funk bands who hadn't a tenth of Hancock's talent or compositional smarts. Alas, the keysman himself began to fall into the slick R&B trap, as the decent but hardly spectacular vocal tracks (sung by Gavin Christopher) "Stars in Your Eyes" and "Satisfied With Love" attest. Fortunately the taste of those tunes is easily erased by the Caribbean-flavored "Calypso," which combines Hancock's electric approach with his old acoustic rhythm section of Ron Carter and Tony Williams, the experimental "Nobu," a solo electronic piece, and the groovy "Spider," which again has Wah Wah Watson augmenting the usual jazz/funk arrangements. Also included in the set's final chapter is the club hit "Rockit," Hancock's polarizing jazz/hip-hop collaboration with turntablist DST and producer Bill Laswell that's seen as the final sellout by some pundits and as a pioneering fusion by others, and "Karabali," which finds Hancock putting his piano and programming skills to work over Daniel Ponce's worldbeat percussion and Bernard Fowler's African chants. The set concludes with an electrified remake of "Maiden Voyage," paired with a piece called "P. Bop;" it's a boiling hip-hop/jazz/funk explosion featuring bass monster Bootsy Collins. Do the words "full circle" even need to be stated?

A word on the packaging: Legacy has put the four disks and the accompanying booklet (which features track-by-track commentary from Hancock himself) in a clear, plastic cube, with the disks held in slots that require a great deal of care in removal. It's an odd design sure to win a Grammy for best packaging but not encouraging for casual listening. If fans have to put the disks in another container for easy access, why package it this way at all? It seems a strange choice when such obvious love and care was put into the selection of the music. Which is ultimately what the set, regardless of container, is all about—a celebration of the genius of Herbie Hancock. If a good grounding in the man's impressive work is what you crave, then The Herbie Hancock Box will scratch that itch quite nicely. Michael Toland [buy it]

For fans of: Chick Corea, Bill Evans, Weather Report