INCLUDES 4 BONUS TRACKS

4 1/2 STARS ALL MUSIC GUIDE

This release presents the complete Herbie Hancock LP Takin' Off (Blue Note ST-84109), which marks the pianist's first album under his own name. All of the compositions are by the leader, who is backed by such stars as Dexter Gordon, Freddie Hubbard, Butch Warren, and Billy Higgins. The album includes one of Hancock's best known compositions, “Watermelon Man”, which made it to the Top 100 on the pop charts, went on to become a jazz standard, and would later be successfully covered by Mongo Santamaria. The three surviving alternate takes from the session and a rare trio version of “Like Someone in Love” (recorded by Hancock live in St. Louis the previous year) have been added here as a bonus.

PERSONNEL:

FREDDIE HUBBARD, trumpet
DEXTER GORDON, tenor sax
HERBIE HANCOCK, piano
BUTCH WARREN, bass
BILLY HIGGINS, drums

Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, May 28, 1962.
Original sessions recorded by Rudy Van Gelder and produced by alfred lion.

INCLUDES 12 PAGE BOOKLET

TRACKS:

01 WATERMELON MAN 7:09
02 THREE BAGS FULL 5:26
03 EMPTY POCKETS 6:12
04 THE MAZE 6:48
05 DRIFTIN' 6:57
06 ALONE AND I 6:29
07 WATERMELON MAN [alternate take] 6:34
08 THREE BAGS FULL [alternate take] 5:32
09 EMPTY POCKETS [alternate take] 6:30
10 LIKE SOMEONE IN LOVE 11:59

TOTAL TIME: 68:40