A mini-retrospective of
Herbie Hancock's early years as a jazz artist, this six-track CD touches on some of his best-known small-ensemble works from that period. Of his first five albums for Blue Note Records from 1963-1965, Takin' Off,
My Point of View,
Empyrean Isles, and
Maiden Voyage are represented -- his third and perhaps most individually realized LP,
Inventions & Dimensions, is not. You get hits "Canteloupe Island," "Watermelon Man," "Maiden Voyage," and three lesser titles, which remove it from "best-of" status. His sixth and seventh full-length Blue Note recordings,
The Prisoner and
Speak Like a Child, are also omitted. This is a decent, edited, and concise, but far from comprehensive view of
Hancock's salad days, which some purport might still be his best. ~ Michael G. Nastos