Classic Hancock from 1964. From soul-jazz cuts to avant-garde explorations, ‘Empyrean Isles’ revealed that Herbie Hancock was a jazz icon in the making.Empyrean Isles is the best of Hancock’s Blue Note albums and an outstanding example of modal jazz. But beyond that, it’s simply one of the finest pure jazz albums ever made, right up there with Kind of Blue and Love Supreme. What helps makes it so great is not just the phenomenal musicians and the flawless performance, but a composer/arranger (Hancock) who really has no equal in the jazz world.
The 1950s were about forming the groundwork for jazz. Its maturation came in the post-bop 1960s, and this album was conceived at arguably the very peak of that movement. the favourites here are the “Oliloqui Valley” and the immortal “Cantaloupe Island.”
Ultra Clear 180G
Heavyweight vinyl
Limited Edition 500 copies
(Future Shock/2021)
