My Point of View

My Point of View is the second album by pianist Herbie Hancock. It was released in 1963 on Blue Note Records as BLP 4126 and BST 84126.

My Point of View
Studio album by
Herbie Hancock
ReleasedEarly September 1963[1]
RecordedMarch 19, 1963
StudioVan Gelder Studio, Englewood Cliffs, NJ
GenreJazz
Length34:37
LabelBlue Note Records
BST 84126
ProducerAlfred Lion
Herbie Hancock chronology
Takin' Off
(1962)		 My Point of View
(1963)		 Inventions and Dimensions
(1963)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Down Beat[2]
Allmusic [3]
The Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide[4]

Overview

For his second album, Hancock remained rooted in the hard bop and soul jazz movements. As with his first album, he put together a classic hard bop small group, adding trombonist Grachan Moncur III on three tracks to the trumpet and tenor sax he had previously written for Donald Byrd, Hancock's mentor, whose 1961 album Royal Flush was Hancock's Blue Note debut, played trumpet, and Hank Mobley (who, like Byrd, was in the midst of recording a long run of Blue Note albums as a leader), played tenor sax. Additionally, Hancock added guitarist Grant Green for two songs with a more pronounced soul jazz feel. With the composition "King Cobra", Hancock worked in the modal jazz idiom and created a tune similar in some respects to his later famous composition Maiden Voyage.

The album was one of the first releases featuring drummer Tony Williams, who was 17 years old at the time of the recording. Williams joined Hancock about two months later in Miles Davis's Second Great Quintet. With the exception of bassist Chuck Israels, every player on the album went on to release numerous jazz albums as a band leader during the 1960s and 1970s, and each had at least two albums as a leader on Blue Note records during the 1960s.

Composition

"Blind Man, Blind Man" was written by Hancock trying to evoke "something that reflected my Negro background". The blind man standing in the corner playing his guitar was in fact one of the things Hancock experienced in his neighbourhood in Chicago. The piece is reminiscent of "Watermelon Man", one of his greatest hits. According to Hancock, "King Cobra" was an attempt to "expand the flow [of jazz tunes and chords] so that it would go in directions beyond the usual".[5]

Track listing

All compositions by Herbie Hancock

  1. "Blind Man, Blind Man" – 8:19
  2. "A Tribute to Someone" – 8:45
  3. "King Cobra" – 6:55
  4. "The Pleasure Is Mine" – 4:03 (incorrectly labelled as 8:00 on the CD reissue)
  5. "And What If I Don't" – 6:35
  6. "Blind Man, Blind Man" (Alternate Take) – 8:21 (re-release only)

Personnel

References
  1. Billboard Sept 21, 1963
  2. Down Beat: November 7, 1963 Vol. 30, No. 29
  3. Erlewine, Thomas (2011). "My Point of View - Herbie Hancock | AllMusic". allmusic.com. Retrieved 26 June 2011.
  4. Swenson, J., ed. (1985). The Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide. USA: Random House/Rolling Stone. p. 93. ISBN 0-394-72643-X.
  5. Original liner notes by Ira Gitler
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