Maiden Voyage is the fifth album led by
jazz musician
Herbie Hancock, and was recorded by
Rudy Van Gelder on March 17, 1965, for
Blue Note Records. It was issued as BLP 4195 and BST 84195. Featuring Hancock with tenor saxophonist
George Coleman, trumpeter
Freddie Hubbard, bassist
Ron Carter and drummer
Tony Williams, it is a
concept album aimed at creating an oceanic atmosphere. As such, many of the track titles refer to marine biology or the sea, and the musicians develop the concept through their use of space.[4][5] The album was presented with the
Grammy Hall of Fame Award in 1999.
Overview
Coleman, Carter, Williams and Hancock himself were all recently a part of the
Miles Davis quintet.
According to Bob Blumenthal's 1999 liner notes: "Blue Note logs indicate that an attempt had been made to record '
Maiden Voyage', 'Little One', and 'Dolphin Dance' six days earlier, with Hubbard on cornet and
Stu Martin in place of Williams. Those performances were rejected at the time and have been lost in the ensuing years." A different version of "Little One" was recorded by Miles Davis and his quintet (by then including
Wayne Shorter instead of Coleman) for the album E.S.P., also released in 1965.
Hancock cites
Count Basie's "Shiny Stockings" as the main source of inspiration for "Dolphin Dance".[6]
Reception
The Penguin Guide to Jazz designated the album as part of its Core Collection with a four star rating, calling it "a colossal achievement from a man still just 24 years old".[7]Stephen Thomas Erlewine of
AllMusic describes the album as "arguably his finest record of the '60s, reaching a perfect balance between accessible, lyrical jazz and chance-taking hard bop".[8]
Legacy
"Maiden Voyage", "The Eye of the Hurricane" and "Dolphin Dance" have become
jazz standards and are featured in
Hal Leonard'sNew Real Book vol. 2. While being interviewed for
KCET in 2011, Hancock said he considered "Maiden Voyage" to be his favorite of all of the compositions he had written.[9] During an interview on
KTLA in 2020, the composer told Frank Buckley that he originally wrote the tune for a television commercial. Hancock was the pianist on another version of "Maiden Voyage" for
Bobby Hutcherson's album Happenings which was recorded in February 1966. Hancock rerecorded "Maiden Voyage" and "Dolphin Dance" on his 1974 album Dedication and updated the title track on his 1988 album Perfect Machine. "Dolphin Dance" was rerecorded in 1981 for the Herbie Hancock Trio album. Hancock has released live concert versions of "Maiden Voyage" on CoreaHancock (1979) and An Evening With Herbie Hancock & Chick Corea: In Concert (1980) (both with
Chick Corea). Hancock recorded "Maiden Voyage" and "Eye of the Hurricane" with the VSOP Quintet on VSOP: Tempest in the Colosseum (1977).
In 2008, jazz pianist
John Beasley released a tribute to Hancock called Letter to Herbie, which features a re-working of "Maiden Voyage" called "Bedtime Voyage". The album also features a recording of "Eye of the Hurricane".