- Toys
- First trip
- Speak Like a Child
- Little Waltz
- Willow Weep for Me
- Dolphin dance
- Ili’s treasure
- Princess Eye of the Hurricane
- Walking
Biographies of the musicians are included on the DVD.
Herbie Hancock – Concert Grand piano
Ron Carter – Double Bass
Billy Cobham – Drums
Herbie Hancock and Ron Carter first met when they were both
members of the Miles Davies quintet. Billy Cobham first came
to the attention of the jazz world when he joined the Horace
Silver quintet.
Herbie Hancock, who received a classical musical training is
one of the finest composers and arrangers in the world, as well
as being an excellent pianist as this DVD demonstrates. His
partners here are also in the very top echelon of jazz musicians
on their respective instruments. It is strange that this music
was recorded nearly 20 years ago, but it sounds as though it
might have been recorded yesterday.
The absence of electronic instruments certainly appeals to
me, all three musicians are associated with jazz/rock and I
had half expected that electronics would be well to the fore.
I realise that electronic instruments have a place in jazz,
but as most were developed for the rock/pop scene, they are
often used to subvert jazz/rock into rock/noise!
Ron Carter’s bass playing is exquisite and his solo on Willow
Weeps for Me, shows off his superb tone and amazing technique
as he accompanies himself in the manner used by some of the
great guitar players.
Billy Cobham is another master technician on the drums, who
listens to what the other musicians are doing and complements
it throughout.
Herbie Hancock’s solo on Dolphin Dance enables us to understand
how his classical training, has made it possible for him to improvise
without being held back by any technical limitations.
With a playing time of 90 minutes this DVD is a good buy for
anyone who likes to see and hear master jazzmen at work. A minor
criticism is that Herbie Hancock never seems to want to play
the melody with a straight forward swinging rhythm section,
which is shame, he is we know very talented at doing just that,
but then I’m old fashioned!
Don Mather
CD Reviews
TDK
Jazz Club DV-JWOR
