Name: The Piano
Brand: Herbie Hancock

Bonus disc

Bonus disc: No

Catalogue number

5099708708320

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Colour

Colour details

Discogs ID

Discs

Download code

Download code: No

Rough Trade Exclusive

Rough Trade Exclusive: No

Extended format

Extended format: No

Format detail

Format Music GB

Limited edition

Release date

2017-12-30

Signed copies

Signed copies: No

Supplier GB

Sony

Tax rate GB

UPC / Barcode

1 / CD / Extended format: No / Rough Trade Exclusive: No / Signed copies: No

Artist

Herbie Hancock

Genre GB

Jazz

Label GB

Recorded after the funky fusion of <a href="https://www.allmusic.com/album/head-hunters-mw0000649551">Head Hunters</a>, <a href="https://www.allmusic.com/album/thrust-mw0000311449">Thrust</a>, <a href="https://www.allmusic.com/album/sextant-mw0000039544">Sextant</a>, and other electric albums, and before the dawn of "Rockit" and more commercially viable and hip-hop-oriented material, <a href="https://www.allmusic.com/artist/herbie-hancock-mn0000957296">Herbie Hancock</a> 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 <a href="https://www.allmusic.com/album/feets-dont-fail-me-now-mw0000191929">Feets, Don't Fail Me Now</a> was issued stateside. A curious set, the first half of the album features <a href="https://www.allmusic.com/artist/hancock-mn0000957296">Hancock</a> 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 <a href="https://www.allmusic.com/artist/the-miles-davis-quintet-mn0000424302">the Miles Davis Quintet</a> -- 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 <a href="https://www.allmusic.com/artist/hancock-mn0000957296">Hancock</a>'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 à la <a href="https://www.allmusic.com/artist/anton-webern-mn0001190857">Anton Webern</a>, blues, <a href="https://www.allmusic.com/artist/erroll-garner-mn0000206967">Erroll Garner</a>'s lyrical phrasing, and <a href="https://www.allmusic.com/artist/bill-evans-mn0000764702">Bill Evans</a>' harmonic sensibilities. They are, in sum, inseparable from one another and are usually performed as a suite. This is a stunning triumph for <a href="https://www.allmusic.com/artist/hancock-mn0000957296">Hancock</a>, 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 <a href="https://www.allmusic.com/album/the-herbie-hancock-box-mw0000661396">The Herbie Hancock Box</a>. Maybe someday.

The Piano

Music GB