The Essential Herbie Hancock is the forty-sixth album by American jazz musician and pianist Herbie Hancock. It is part of Sony BMG's The Essential series. Unlike the box set The Herbie Hancock Box, this is the first 2-disc compilation of all of Hancock's music on the various recording labels that Hancock was on.
Track listing
Disc One
|
| 1. | "Watermelon Man" (from Takin' Off, 1962) | 7:12 |
| 2. | "'Round Midnight" (from the Sonny Rollins album Now's the Time, 1964) | 4:03 |
| 3. | "Cantaloupe Island" (from Empyrean Isles, 1964) | 5:30 |
| 4. | "Maiden Voyage" (from Maiden Voyage, 1965) | 7:55 |
| 5. | "Circle" (from the Miles Davis Quintet album Miles Smiles, 1967) | 5:48 |
| 6. | "The Sorcerer" (from Speak Like a Child, 1968) | 5:38 |
| 7. | "Tell Me a Bedtime Story" (from Fat Albert Rotunda, 1970) | 5:01 |
| 8. | "Hidden Shadows" (from Sextant, 1973) | 10:11 |
| 9. | "Chameleon" (from Head Hunters, 1973) | 15:41 |
| 10. | "Joanna's Theme" (from Death Wish, 1974) | 4:43 |
Disc Two
|
| 1. | "Butterfly" (from Thrust, 1974) | 11:17 |
| 2. | "People Music" (from Secrets, 1976) | 7:08 |
| 3. | "Milestones" (from Herbie Hancock Trio, 1977) | 6:37 |
| 4. | "4 AM" (from Mr. Hands, 1980) | 5:22 |
| 5. | "Come Running To Me" (from Sunlight, 1978) | 8:24 |
| 6. | "Finger Painting" (from the V.S.O.P. album Five Stars, 1979) | 6:42 |
| 7. | "Stars In Your Eyes" (from Monster, 1980) | 7:05 |
| 8. | "Rockit" (from Future Shock, 1983) | 5:24 |
| 9. | "St. Louis Blues" (from Gershwin's World, 1998) | 5:50 |
| 10. | "Manhattan (Island of Lights and Love)" (from The New Standard, 1996) | 4:04 |
