Empty Pockets

Dexter Gordon (tenor sax), Freddie Hubbard (trumpet), Herbie Hancock (piano), Butch Warren (bass) and Billy Higgins (drums). From the album Takin’ Off (1962).

In 1963, Miles Davis joined Hancock to his quintet, where he remained for five years. It was there that he discovered new ways to use common chords and incorporated others that had not been used before in jazz. At that time, his own solo career flourished at Blue Note, recording classic albums such as Maiden Voyage, Empyrean Isles and Speak Like a Child and participating in works by other important musicians. In 1966 he composed the soundtrack for Michelangelo Antonioni’s Blowup film, the first of many others he recorded in his career. He also wrote music for television advertising.

In 1968 he left Davis, although he collaborated with him on later albums, and entered electronic music forming a sextet with which he recorded three albums before disbanding it in 1973. That same year he formed the funk group The Headhunters and recorded the album Head Hunters, that was a great success. During the 1970s he recorded electronic music and jazz-funk albums, and played for large audiences. However, Hancock also wanted to continue playing acoustic jazz, and during the late 1970s and early 1980s he toured with the V.S.O.P. group, composed of former members of the mid-1960s Miles Davis Quintet, but with Freddie Hubbard replacing Davis.

The rhythm section makes a brief introduction and then Gordon and Hubbard come in to expose the theme, which is a kind of modern blues with modified harmonies. However, they use a normal blues for solos. First Hubbard arrives making a solo easy to listen to, but occasionally adding more complicated phrases. The last one to intervene is Dexter Gordon in a friendly and casual way showing that he is comfortable playing on his field. Next Hancock enters with a very bluesy and entertaining solo, and then the group plays a chorus with a blues that they had already established. To conclude, they re-expose the theme repeating the last sentence.