![]() ![]() I dug it so much brought it to Frank for use as the cover for this album, Frank said it was so evocative a photograph because of the innocence and naivete in it. “Speak Like A Child”, as a title, Herbie explains, “came from Frank Wolff, and it’s a result of a picture that a friend of mine, David Bythewood, took. I wrote the melody first and then I added the harmonies I wanted underneath, I suppose I heard them vaguely in my head from the beginning I just had to find them.” It does contain an element of turmoil, but it’s there more as an undercurrent than on the surface, Incidentally, when I wrote this song. “When I listened to the record,” Herbie said, “it sounded like a riot to me with regard to the emotions being expressed. The first number, “Riot”, was recorded originally by Miles Davis. Some of this way of thinking and writing comes from listening to Gil Evans and Oliver Nelson and from having worked with Thad Jones from time to time, certainly one of the ways I’m going to go from here on is writing for large groups.” ![]() I tried to give the horns notes that would give color and body to the sounds I heard as I wrote. “Similarly,” Herbie went on, “on those tracks with the horns, I was more interested in sounds than in definite chordal patterns. That’s how I write that’s how it comes out. In much of the album, there are places where you could call the harmonies by any one of four designations, but no one designation would really include everything involved. I’m more concerned with sounds than chords, and so I voice the harmonies to provide a wider spectrum of colors that can be contained within the traditional chord progressions. For the most part, the harmonies in these numbers are freer in the sense that they’re not so easily identifiable chordally in the conventional way. “This album,” he continued, “also is an extension of Maiden Voyage in terms of my use of simple, singable melodies, Now what’s different in Speak Like a Child as a whole has to do, first of all, with harmony. Its jazz elements include improvisation and it’s like rock in that it emphasizes particular kinds of rhythmic patterns to work off of. It has elements of both but retains and builds on its own identity. I asked him for specifics, “What I was into then, and have been thinking about more and more,” Herbie answered, “was the concept that there is a type of music in between jazz and rock. That set was a sort of jumping off point for me, and I go on from there here.” It is related to Maiden Voyage, Herbie notes, “in a way none of my previous albums were related to each other. ![]() Speak Like a Child is Herbie Hancock’s first album as a leader for Blue Note since Maiden Voyage, and it represents a further extension of discoveries Herbie made during that preceding journey. But the key to Speak Like A Child is in Hancock’s graceful, lyrical playing and compositions, which are lovely on the surface and provocative and challenging upon closer listening.” – Allmusic The rhythm section of bassist Ron Carter and drummer Mickey Roker keeps things light, subtle, and forever shifting, emphasizing the hybrid nature of Hancock’s original compositions. He has selected three parts - Thad Jones’ flügelhorn, Peter Phillips’ bass trombone, Jerry Dodgion’s alto flute - with unusual voicings, and he uses them for tonal texture and melodic statements, not solos. Similarly, the horns and reeds are unconventional. Instead, he has found a balance between accessible themes and searching improvisations that work a middle ground between post-bop and rock. Hancock’s melodies and themes have become simpler and more memorable, particularly on the title track, but that hasn’t cut out room for improvisation. Like Maiden Voyage, the album is laid-back, melodic, and quite beautiful, but there are noticeable differences between the two records. When Hancock did return to a leadership position on Speak Like A Child, it was clear that he had assimilated not only the group’s experiments, but also many ideas Miles initially sketched out with Gil Evans. “Between 1965’s Maiden Voyage and 1968’s Speak Like A Child, Herbie Hancock was consumed with his duties as part of the Miles Davis Quintet, who happened to be at their creative and popular peak during those three years. ![]()
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