Sunday, January 18, 2009

Herbie Hancock live at the Boarding House (1974, bootleg)





'Maiden Voyage' excerpt


'Actual Proof' excerpt

What better way to start Sunday than with thirty minutes of "new" Herbie Hancock from 1974 ?

Miles from Birds With Broken Wings was recently digging through some old boxes from the 1970s, a time when he worked as an announcer at a jazz radio station, and came across a tape of this broadcast performance, which he has kindly donated to this blog.

I've checked through the main Hancock bootleg database at db.etree and there doesn't seem to be any matching entry, so I think we've got a first here, which we'll of course also add into the ever-growing Herbie Hancock bootlegs post ...

Two long tracks here. The first is an extraordinary solo piano improvisation, which over the course of fifteen minutes dips in and out of "Maiden Voyage" several times.

In the second edit here, the band joins "Maiden Voyage" before soon segueing into an acoustic version of "Actual Proof", which Hancock recorded the same year on the album "Thrust".

Bennie Maupin features strongly on flute, and I'm unaware if there are any other recordings of this track featuring Hancock on acoustic piano. Anyway, it's great stuff.

While there's no certain information on the other players, the Headhunters' lineup stayed pretty solid throughout 1974, so I think we can reasonably assume the the lineup is as below ... though there's touches of Pastorius in the basslines, but is this too early? hmmm ...

Quality note : My recording and production background has led me to be a bit of a quality fascist when it comes to bootlegs, and even though this has been through a cassette stage, it's all properly miked and mixed to the point where you're not missing any of the nuances of this great group of musicians. There's a bit of tape flutter in the last five minutes of "Actual Proof", but it's not too bad.

Enjoy this one! A big thanks to Miles, and you can check out more of his stuff at Birds With Broken Wings.

TRACKLIST

01. Improvisation / Maiden Voyage (14:57)
02. Maiden Voyage / Actual Proof (15:43)

MUSICIANS (PROBABLE)

Herbie Hancock - piano
Bennie Maupin - flute
Paul Jackson - electric bass
Mike Clark - drums

PRODUCTION DETAILS

Recorded at The Boarding House, San Francisco, 1974

MORE HERBIE

Herbie Hancock discography by Christian Genzel
Herbie Hancock discography with downloads @ BlaxJive
Herbie Hancock bootlegs - the big post

POST CREDITS

Digitisation by Miles.
Post links to Birds With Broken Wings, Call It Anything and Blaxploitation Jive

at

22 comments:

  1. JazzjetJanuary 19, 2009 at 1:43 AM

    Thanks for this addition to the Herbie bootleg catalogue. Just going to Mile's site to thank him as well.

    ReplyDelete
  2. ishJanuary 19, 2009 at 1:52 AM

    Thanks Simon. It's interesting to hear this acoustic chapter when he was mostly doing the electric thing. I never get tired of hearing Maiden Voyage...I wonder what it's like to spend your entire career playing the same song.

    Which reminds me of a line from a Joni Mitchell concert on some record where she wonders at how people react differently to visual and musical artists, and asks the audience--who's busy calling out requests--how come nobody asked Vincent Van Gogh to paint "Starry Starry Night" again.

    ReplyDelete
  3. JTFJanuary 19, 2009 at 3:55 AM

    thanks to you!

    ReplyDelete
  4. GIIJanuary 19, 2009 at 9:03 AM

    thanks

    ReplyDelete
  5. cheebaJanuary 19, 2009 at 11:36 AM

    Wow! "Actual Proof" sounds incredible here! I'd have to say it does sound like Clark on drums but not so sure whether it's Jackson on bass or not - although I have seen his playing on Thrust compared to Jaco so I think you're probably right and it's all Headhunters here.

    Thanks too for hepping me to Miles' blog, it's a gem!

    ReplyDelete
  6. NeilantmanJanuary 19, 2009 at 12:54 PM

    Thanks

    ReplyDelete
  7. el googJanuary 20, 2009 at 5:12 AM

    Thank you Miles again, thank you Simon.
    There should be each, and there is it.
    eG

    ReplyDelete
  8. corvimaxJanuary 20, 2009 at 11:34 PM

    thanks Simon, acoustic session from Herbie Hancock is allways welcome

    ReplyDelete
  9. Art SimonJanuary 22, 2009 at 11:47 AM

    Very Cool! Thanks!

    ReplyDelete
  10. yotteJanuary 23, 2009 at 9:17 AM

    Thanks for posting this! I'm loving this blog and "birds w/" too. iDon't know how you guys do what you do, but iSure appreciate it!

    ReplyDelete
  11. DubJanuary 27, 2009 at 3:03 PM

    That sounds excellent! Thanks for sharing (since I couldn't be there live).

    ReplyDelete
  12. AnonymousJanuary 28, 2009 at 12:08 AM

    Ustedes han sido añadidos al planeta jazz: http://www.planetaki.com/jazz ,hecho por Music-a-k-o: http://yougotrhythm.blogspot.com , si tienen algún inconveniente en que sus posts vayan apareciendo en esta web temática de jazz por favor manden un correo electrónico a: yougotrhythm@gmail.com , saludos y muchas gracias.

    ReplyDelete
  13. UnknownFebruary 11, 2009 at 3:56 AM

    Thanks for your great Hancock collection. Here are some addresses you might be interested:

    http://urge2burge.wordpress.com/
    Herbie Hancock 5tet Tokio 1983
    Herbie Hancock 5tet Directions in Music : Barbican, London 9.7.2002
    Herbie Hancock Sextet : Barbican, London 19.11.2008

    http://concerts.wolfgangsvault.com
    Herby Hancock, Chick Corea - duo piano

    ReplyDelete
  14. peskypeskyJune 3, 2009 at 5:25 AM

    love this!

    thank you!

    ReplyDelete
  15. ghost60September 6, 2009 at 4:40 AM

    thanks

    ReplyDelete
  16. AnonymousJanuary 16, 2010 at 4:17 PM

    I would like too take time too Thank everyone for doing what you do and making the community what it is im a long time reader and first time poster so i just wanted to say thanks.

    ReplyDelete
  17. UnknownJanuary 30, 2010 at 4:40 AM

    Man, that's awesome! Your blog is fantastic. Thanks a lot.

    ReplyDelete
  18. Simon666April 29, 2010 at 8:30 PM

    Hi folks, I've posted the 1974 PBS Soundstage show with Herbie Hancock, Headhunters, Chick Corea and Return to Forever. You can download the one hour video or just get an audio version, here :

    http://neverenoughrhodes.blogspot.com/2010/04/herbie-hancock-headhunters-chick-corea_29.html

    ReplyDelete
  19. KeatsOctober 28, 2011 at 2:32 PM

    I think Herbie was on the same bill as Jerry Garcia and Merl Saunders for this show.

    ReplyDelete
  20. SlimStewApril 14, 2012 at 3:34 PM

    Thanks Miles and Simon.

    ReplyDelete
  21. AnonymousMarch 9, 2014 at 11:05 AM

    I was there that night. No one else on the bill. Not a jazz person, he was not who was billed for that night. Who was billed i don't remember. A large platter of fried shrimp and two bottles of apple jack and great music.

    ReplyDelete
  22. Wade CottinghamJune 11, 2014 at 12:48 PM

    Thank you Simon for more HH!

    ReplyDelete