Herbie Hancock
My Point of View (Blue Note 84126)

Herbie Hancock's second album for Blue Note, recorded when he was not yet 24 and just about to join Miles Davis in what would be one of the best ever groups in jazz, shows him truly hitting his stride as both a writer and performer.

The songs are all memorable, and the band couldn't be better: Herbie on piano, Donald Byrd on trumpet, Grachan Moncur III on trombone, Hank Mobley on tenor sax, Grant Green on guitar, Chuck Israels on bass, and 17-year-old Tony Williams on drums.

I know, many will look at Chuck Israels in that list and think "One of these kids is not like the other," but he acquits himself nicely amid the prestigious company, and besides, he was good enough for Bill Evans. For awhile, anyway.

Every Herbie Hancock album from the 60s has one big hit, and this one has "Blind Man, Blind Man," similar in feel to "Watermelon Man" off Takin' Off but possessing its own catchy melody and twisty turnarounds.

For my money, it's hard to beat the booty-shakin' Herbie tracks like this, even though his more intellectual side can be intriguing and amazing. I just love it when Herbie gets my toes tapping. This song is a Blue Note classic, one of Herbie's best.

The midtempo "A Tribute to Someone" fas a great Mobley solo, but is really a showpiece for Byrd, who demonstrates why he matters in the first place. Too many jazz critics dismiss him for his later turns toward commercial music (and I disagree with them, as that music was great, and when it comes down to it, not all that commercial when you compare it to, say, Grover Washington, Jr.), but he plays with utter clarity, restraint, and flashes of complexity that he pulls off with total smoothness. A great performance, made all the more great by the complete run-on of a sentence I just wrote.

"King Cobra" is an unusually tense type of song that gets near Roger Kellaway's "Brats" with its insistent rhythm, but remains very cool, keeping the suspense in the air.

The liner notes imply that Herbie titled it not only because it sort of conjures images of a coiling snake, but also because he was driving a Cobra sports car at the time (bought with the steady stream of cash churned up by "Watermelon Man"). This guy has never really escaped people accusing him of selling out, but I think the point is he always played what he wanted to, whether or not it happened to be fashionable or in the best possible taste.

"The Pleasure is Mine" is an extremely pretty ballad that cries out for lyrics. I wonder if anyone has ever set words to it? Perhaps I will. "The pleasure is mine …" Oh forget it, I wouldn't be able to not make it about jerking off. A great song, served well by the horn section in particular.

The closer, "And What if I Don't," is a very Horace Silvery type of thing, and another Blue Note gemstone. It marries a clip-clop horse tempo to a soulful R&B melody and pays off big. It may be Tony Williams' most reined-in performance ever. Man, when I was 17, I'd have been lucky to even like this song, much less play on it.

The amazing thing about My Point Of View is that the players don't overpower each other – all of these heavyweight talents, and nobody really steals the show. Ensemble performance at its best; the essence of jazz.

A wonderful album. All five tracks are included on Herbie's Complete Blue Note 60s Sessions set.

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Review by Lula Babcock