Customer Reviews

New Standard

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This is by far one of Hancock's best recordings (at least since the Headhunters, Thrust, Manchild days). He captures a strange haunting sound in the twilight between Jazz, Pop and Rock. When I come home from a long day there is nothing better than mixing a gin and tonic and putting on Herbie's fantastic version of "Norwegian Wood". The musicians seams to be completely in tune on this record, not just showing off talent but really putting there soul into it.

If you dig Miles Davis on "In a Silent Way" or Coltrane in "My Favorite Things" then you are going to love this fantastic record. Tracks like "Mercy Street", "When Can I See You", "Manhattan" and "Love is Stronger Than Pride" are made of the good stuff, they are played with depth and skill in that rare way that makes a classic. In short this record can be put next to any great Jazz masterpiece.

I can't understand why everyone doesn't buy this CD. The band is great (Scofield, Alias, Dejohnette, Brecker, Holland), the tunes are great (Norwegian Wood, Thieves In The Temple, Scarborough Fair, etc.), what else is there? Some jazz purists would say that it is not really jazz, but what is jazz? Does jazz always have to be AABA or 12-bar blues, quarter=200, key of B-flat, with swung eighth notes? If so, then no, this album is not jazz. Personally, my definition of jazz is anything that grooves and has lots of space for improvisation. This record more than fits both those qualifications. Buy this record if you like fresh music that feels good and has some substance.

This CD has rapidly become one of my favorites. Herbie and company succeed masterfully at fulfilling the "standard" potential of these popular tunes. Very well arranged and performed, and the solos are outstanding!

Herbie Hancock's body of excellent work is vast but this 1996 CD is one of his more interesting latter day recordings. It's also one of my favourites. On it, he is joined by some of my most favourite players; Michael Brecker on tenor and soprano saxophones, John Scofield on guitar, Dave Holland on acoustic bass, Jack DeJohnette on drums and electric percussion and Don Alias on percussion.

The idea is a great one - take current popular songs and make new jazz standards out of them. The idea of making jazz versions of pop tunes is not new of course but while other so-called jazz musicians have just remade the originals of their choice, lazily replacing the vocal phrases with their instruments, Hancock has done the job the way it's supposed to be done. He's considered the tunes very carefully and then, together with Bob Belden, given them new and exciting arrangements. Produced by Hancock and Guy Eckstine, the album tackles tunes from Don Henley, Peter Gabriel, The Beatles, Babyface, Sade, Simon & Garfunkel, Prince, Nirvana and Steely Dan.

It's great stuff. I particularly love the way Hancock would phrase the end of a solo, only to have that phrase echoed by Scofield at the beginning of his. They do that on two of my favourite songs - the opening "New York Minute" and "Love Is Stronger Than Pride". The ballad "Norwegian Wood" is pure magic. The way John Scofield plays on it blows my mind every time I listen. "Thieves In The Temple" and "When Can I See You" (where Don Alias really shines) are also particularly interesting.

But I love all the songs really. Just as you think the album is about to end on a quiet note via "All Apologies" and the Herbie Hancock and Jean Hancock original "Manhattan", in comes the stomper "Your Gold Teeth II" to pick things up again.

I had quite a few of the original songs before I heard this album and those I didn't have I went and searched out after I'd heard it. I feel Herbie Hancock has managed, (with the exception, maybe, of the Nirvana tune - nobody and nothing, in my view, can beat the haunted and haunting sound of Kurt Cobain's voice), that very rare feat of making covers of songs sound much more interesting than the originals. Some of his more recent outings have been a bit ropey in my view (though, admittedly, very popular) but there's no doubt in my mind that he's one of the musical geniuses of this generation. If ever any proof was needed, this album with its all-star cast, is it.

Very interesting concept...Hancock covers rock songs by Peter Gabriel, Stevie Wonder, Sade, Paul Simon, Prince, The Beatles, Kurt Cobain and more. At first glance, you might think that this is going to be schlock, but by rearranging the structure and dropping most of the melodies he makes the songs interesting, unpredictable and almost unrecognizable. Having an all-star band with Michael Brecker, John Scofield, Dave Holland, Jack DeJohnette and Don Alias doesn't hurt either. It's all excellent but my favorite track is Don Henley's "New York Minute". I bet even Henley wouldn't even recognize it (but still more than happy to get a royalty check for it).

This album is a modern jazz masterpiece, and no lover of jazz should be without this purchase. Yes these are covers of contempory pop and rock hits, but they do not sound like cheap covers. Hancock has reworked them into intricate masterful pieces, and this album is up there with his early brilliance of Maiden Voyage in my opinion.

Since I picked this up last year it has has so much rotation in my disc player, and this along with Miles Davis's Kind of Blue is perfect jazz for almost any occasion. Like that lofty album, Hancock's 'New Standard' makes great background music for any dinner or cafe setting, and for more astute listening the album holds many moments of interest and enjoyment.

Although I don't mind his funk and experimental chill material, I believe that this is the kind of material that Herbie Hanckock truely shines, and it is what places him above many other artists today. This album is a great return to form, and I heartily recommend it to both casual listeners of jazz and the more serious jazz academics.

I would love to see more of the same quality from Herbie Hancock in the years to come. Five stars from me!

Herbie takes a fresh approach to some relatively new pop standards. The thing that remains the same is his very driving and provocative style of playing! This is one of my favorites!

All I had to hear was a small sample of "When can I see you" and I knew this one was a buy. If you love classic Herbie before all the hip hop Herbie then this is a buy. This CD is one of Herbies best. It has that looking at the sunset feeling.

Herbie Hancock did it again.... Great work. I would recommend this album not only to Jazz musicians, fans, Berklee students, but to everyone interested in a higher level of musicianship.

This is one of his best CD's along with Head Hunters. My favorite song is "Thieves in the Temple". Its Bass line is incredible. I think that everyone should be required to own this CD.