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Review 1
The Prisoner is Herbie Hancock's seventh and final Blue Note release. The pianist had departed the Miles Davis quintet several months prior to these April 1969 sessions, and would soon make the move from Blue Note to Warner Bros.
A political undercurrent runs through this set of intense, often brooding music. Bassist Buster Williams and drummer Albert "Tootie" Heath provide dynamic support for Johnny Coles on fluegelhorn, Garnett Brown on trombone, and Joe Henderson on tenor sax and alto flute. Hancock solos with fire and flair throughout and makes use of electric piano on two tracks, presaging the sound of what would be his next project, the Mwandishi band of 1970-1972. But he also expands on the beguiling timbres of 1968's Speak Like a Child. A bed of flute, bass clarinet, and bass trombone augments the conventional jazz sextet lineup, allowing Hancock to summon orchestral colors that have prompted comparisons to Gil Evans.
The RVG Edition of The Prisoner includes the five original master takes, along with alternate takes of the title track and Buster Williams's "Firewater." (Both alternates were previously released as part of the box set The Complete Herbie Hancock Blue Note Sessions.) |
Players
Garnett Brown : Trombone
Johnny Coles : Flugelhorn, Trumpet
Herbie Hancock : Keyboards, Piano, Piano (Electric), Synthesizer,
Vocals
Albert "Tootie" Heath : Drums
Joe Henderson : Flute, Sax (Tenor)
Jack Jeffers : Trombone (Bass)
Hubert Laws : Flute
Romeo Penque : Clarinet (Bass)
Jerome Richardson : Clarinet (Bass), Flute
Tony Studd : Trombone (Bass)
Oren Waters : Vocals
Buster Williams : Bass
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Tracks
1. I Have A Dream
2. Prisoner, The
3. Firewater
4. He Who Lives In Fear
5. Promise Of The Sun
6. Prisoner, The - (bonus track, alternate take)
7. Firewater - (bonus track, alternate take) |
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