Takin' Off is the debut album by jazz pianist Herbie Hancock released in 1962 by Blue Note Records. The album features veteran tenor saxophonist Dexter Gordon, trumpeter Freddie Hubbard, bassist Butch Warren and drummer Billy Higgins. The album is a creative example of music in the hard bop idiom. The bluesy track "Watermelon Man" almost made it into the Top 100 of the singles charts,Martin, Henry; & Waters, Keith (2005). Jazz: The First 100 Years. Thomas Wadsworth. p. 311. and went on to become a jazz standard. Hancock released a funk arrangement of “Watermelon Man” on his 1973 album Head Hunters. Takin' Off was initially released on CD in 1996 and then again in remastered form in 2007 by Rudy Van Gelder.
Track listing All compositions by Herbie Hancock.
Side one
Side two
Bonus tracks on CD reissue
Personnel Herbie Hancock – piano Freddie Hubbard – trumpet, flugelhorn (on 5) Dexter Gordon – tenor saxophone Butch Warren – double bass Billy Higgins – drums
References