Pianist/Composer Herbie Hancock: "The Prisoner"

Tonight's Jazz Feature pays tribute to Black History Month with this seminal recording by Herbie Hancock. It was his final album for Blue Note records and the first by his new working band. He had left Miles Davis' band and was embarking on his own career as a leader in 1969. This album was written and created as a musical statement reflecting the turbulent times in the USA and the anger and discontent with the lack of movement in civil rights. Plus there were the assassinations, the Vietnam War and a general malaise in the USA at this time too. Hancock worked on these compositions very hard and Blue Note was kind enough to give him a larger budget for this recording as he wanted to add some musicians to the ensembles to create a larger sound. He succeeded by leaps and bounds. His core group was the great Joe Henderson on tenor saxophone, Johnny Coles on trumpet and flugelhorn Garnett Brown on trombone, Buster Williams on bass and Albert "Tootie" Heath on drums. Three non soloing horns are added: flute, bass clarinet and bass trombone. The selections save on are all by Herbie Hancock. The title track is "The Prisoner" followed by "He Who Lives in Fear" then "I Have a Dream" dedicated to the memory of Martin Luther King followed by Buster Williams' "Firewater" then ends on a quiet positive note of hope with "Promise of The Sun". The Jazz Show's tribute to Black History Month.....Herbie Hancock's "The Prisoner".