Empyrean Isles Explained

Empyrean Isles
Type:Album
Artist:Herbie Hancock
Cover:empisle_hancock.jpg
Released:November 1964[1]
Recorded:June 17, 1964
Studio:Van Gelder Studio (Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey)
Length:35:20
Label:Blue Note
Producer:Alfred Lion
Prev Title:Inventions & Dimensions
Prev Year:1963
Next Title:Maiden Voyage
Next Year:1965

Empyrean Isles is the fourth studio album by American jazz pianist Herbie Hancock, released on Blue Note Records in November 1964.[2] [3] The album features Hancock alongside trumpeter Freddie Hubbard, bassist Ron Carter, and drummer Tony Williams.

Recording and composition

Empyrean Isles was recorded at Van Gelder Studio in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, on June 17, 1964.[4] Freddie Hubbard played cornet rather than his typical trumpet on the session. The four compositions on the album, including the future standard "Cantaloupe Island", are Hancock originals written over a two-year period.

Reception

The Penguin Guide to Jazz awarded Empyrean Isles four out of four stars.

AllMusic critic Stephen Thomas Erlewine gave the album five out of five stars, calling it "a record that officially established Hancock as a major artist in his own right."

Track listing

1999 CD reissue

Personnel

Technical personnel

Notes and References

  1. https://books.google.com/books?id=biAEAAAAMBAJ&dq=Hancock+Empyrean&pg=PA26 Billboard Dec 5, 1964
  2. Book: DiMartino . Dave . Music in the 20th Century (3 Vol Set) . 2016 . Routledge . 978-1-317-46430-3 . 273 . 16 December 2019 . en.
  3. Book: Salzman . Jack . Smith . David L. . West . Cornel . Encyclopedia of African-American Culture and History . 1996 . Macmillan Library Reference . 978-0-02-897365-4 . 1185 . 16 December 2019 . en.
  4. Herbie Hancock: Empyrean Isles . Blue Note Records . CD liner notes . 98796.