Songs from Fat Albert Rotunda, Mwandishi, and Crossings are all on this album, released in 1974 and the third in the pile next to the turntable. To me there really is no other music like Herbie Hancock's, especially this, the earlier work. The Miles Davis influence is definitely there - Hancock left his group in 1968. Otherwise the songs are pretty far out, in a Sun Ra way but not at all like The Man From Outerspace.
The cover art is also exceptional: a close-up portrait of Hancock with eyes closed, pouting. It's a photo-realist painting and the highlights of Hancock's face are gold. I can't find credits for it. Liner notes are by David Rubinson, who begins his last paragraph with, "You must pardon me, if indeed you've gotten this far."
17 August 2009
Herbie Hancock - Treasure Chest
