Bobby Hutcherson - Happenings (Blue Note Classic Vinyl Series 180g LP)

Bobby Hutcherson - Happenings | Vinyl LP - Blue Note Classic Vinyl Series, all-analog 180g reissue (Kevin Gray mastering)

Bobby Hutcherson was the most important vibraphonist of his generation, a player who had cut his teeth in the 1960s avant-garde, on Eric Dolphy's Out to Lunch and Jackie McLean's most adventurous dates, before making a run of his own records that were warmer and more melodic without losing an ounce of sophistication. Happenings, from 1966, is one of the best. It is a quartet date with Herbie Hancock on piano, Bob Cranshaw on bass and Joe Chambers on drums, and Hancock is so present throughout that it plays almost like a co-led session. Six of the seven tunes are Hutcherson's own, modal and shimmering, built around the bright ring of his vibraphone. The seventh is the standout for many: a definitive reading of Hancock's "Maiden Voyage", with the composer himself at the piano. It is post-bop at its most graceful, serious music that goes down easy. Hutcherson kept recording superb music for decades, but Happenings is a standout in his catalogue.

This is the Blue Note Classic Vinyl edition, mastered all-analog by Kevin Gray from the original tapes and pressed on 180g vinyl at Optimal.