Cantaloupe Island

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Cantaloupe Island is a jazz standard by Herbie Hancock that was first released in 1964.

The title is assigned to modal jazz and has elements of funk . He only uses three different chords: F minor, D flat major (as a seventh chord ), D minor.

Recordings of Hancock

The title was first published in 1964 on the album Empyrean Isles ( Blue Note ) and is now one of Hancock's best-known pieces , along with recordings such as Rockit (1983) and Watermelon Man (1962). He was initially recorded in the line-up: Herbie Hancock (piano), Freddie Hubbard ( cornet ), Ron Carter (bass), Tony Williams (drums). With Williams and Carter, Hancock played with Miles Davis since 1963 ( Miles Davis in Europe , Columbia, 1993); from 1965 they formed the so-called "second great Miles Davis Quintet " with Wayne Shorter , with which recordings such as ESP (1965), Sorcerer (1967) or Nefertiti (1967) were made. The recording, which was made on June 17, 1964 in Rudy Van Gelder's studio in Englewood Cliffs , was produced by Blue Note founder Alfred Lion . The recording is 5:30 minutes long.

Jazz critic and historian Ted Gioia wrote about the title on jazz.com:

“This is one of the funniest acoustic jazz recordings of its time [...] Hancock's piano figure drives the band, and Hubbard contributes one of his most notable solos. Forget Gilligan's or Crusoe's boring beach ... the nightlife is better on Cantaloupe Island. "

With Cantelope Island from the funk fusion album Secrets ( Columbia Records , 1976) Hancock released a modified version of Cantaloupe Island . About the recording made with Wah Wah Watson and Bennie Maupin , Richard S. Ginell of Allmusic.com wrote:

“ Again, Hancock decided to redesign one of its own standards; 'Cantelope [sic] Island' has been transformed almost unrecognizable into a grumbling, ranting something. "

Some live recordings were also known. Including a four-handed version in which Hancock “accompanied himself” on a Bösendorfer computer grand piano on July 15, 1988 in Munich ( Herbie Hancock Special with Bobby McFerrin and Michael Brecker , 1988). Another recording was made during the tour of Jack DeJohnette's album Parallel Realities , during which Hancock played with DeJohnette (drums), Pat Metheny (guitar) and Dave Holland (bass) at the Mellon Jazz Festival in Philadelphia on June 23, 1990 ( DeJohnette, Hancock , Holland, Metheny in Concert , 2000).

Cantaloop from Us3

The British band Us3 (also published under Us3 featuring Rahsaan ) released the song in 1993 under the name Cantaloop (Flip Fantasia) in a hip-hop version. A rap by Rahsaan Kelly and a trumpet part by Gerard Presencer were recorded using a sample of Hancock's piano part . The title, which is assigned to jazz rap or acid jazz , was produced by Geoff Wilkinson and Mel Simpson . The title begins with a sample by Birdland announcer Pee Wee Marquette (this announcement was originally heard on Art Blakey's A Night at Birdland (Blue Note, 1954)).

Cantaloop became together with the album Hand on the Torch , which pays homage to Blue Note and its founder Alfred Lion, the greatest commercial success of the Blue Note label to date. In the USA, the single reached number 9 on the Billboard Hot 100 , the album sold more than 1,000,000 copies and thus went platinum , in Great Britain, Japan and Canada the album went gold . In an interview, Hancock, who jokingly announced his Cantaloupe Island as “ something from a band called Us3 ” at a concert , said positively about this version: “ I thought it was pretty cool. " Allmusic's Ron Wynn wrote in his review of Hand on the Torch :

"... when words and music interlock like on Cantaloop or The Darkside , Us3 shows how effectively hiphop and jazz can mix."

Cantaloop achieved a high level of recognition around the world , particularly through films ( Super Mario Bros. , 1993; Jimmy Hollywood , 1994; It Takes Two , 1995), television shows ( Willemsens Woche , ZDF, 1994–1998) and commercials ( Tassimo , 2005). In Germany in the 1990s, after a commercial for an ice cream from the Schöller company, it was also sold with the additional title The Song of Manhattan , Manhattan being the name of the ice cream to be advertised.

Further interpretations

* with Hancock on the piano

Web links

Footnotes

  1. ↑ The name Cantaloupe Island does not refer to a real island, Cantaloupe refers to a variety of melon.
  2. ↑ Empyrean Isles on Allmusic.com
  3. ↑ Cantaloupe Island ( Memento of the original from June 26, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. on jazz.com  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.jazz.com

    " This is one of the funkiest acoustic jazz performances of the era, [...] Hancock's piano vamp drives the band, and Hubbard contributes one of his most memorable solos. Forget about Gilligan's or Crusoe's boring beachfront property ... the nightlife is better on Cantaloupe Island. "
  4. ↑ Secrets on Allmusic.com

    Again Hancock chooses to recompose one of his standards; 'Cantelope [sic] Island' is almost unrecognizable converted into a sauntering, swaggering thing.
  5. ↑ See also Hand on the Torch ( Memento from June 26, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) on Us3.com
  6. ↑ a b History of Us3 ( memento from March 13, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) on BlueNote.com
  7. ↑ Billboard Charts for Hand on the Torch on Allmusic.com
  8. ^ History of Us3 on Laut.de
  9. ↑ Fred Jung: A Fireside Chat with Herbie Hancock
  10. ↑ Hand on the Torch on Allmusic.com

    “ … When words and music mesh, as on 'Cantaloop' or 'The Darkside', Us3 show how effectively hip-hop and jazz can blend. "
  11. ↑ The single was provided with an additional cover on which this type of ice cream was also advertised.
  12. ↑ Entry (Who sampled)