Herbie Hancock - The Piano (1979 Japanese CBS/Sony Master Sound Direct Disk Vinyl LP)

Herbie Hancock - The Piano | Vinyl LP - 1979 Japanese CBS/Sony (30AP 1033, Master Sound Direct-to-Disc, gatefold)

In 1978 Herbie Hancock was one of the biggest names in electric jazz, riding the success of Head Hunters and a run of funk and disco records, so The Piano came as a surprise: an album of solo acoustic piano, just Hancock and a grand, with nothing to hide behind. He recorded it in Tokyo over two days for CBS/Sony's audiophile Master Sound series, cutting the performances direct to disc, straight to the master lacquer with no tape in between, which is part of why it sounds so present and alive. The programme is half standards and half originals. His "My Funny Valentine", "On Green Dolphin Street" and "Someday My Prince Will Come" are unhurried and searching, the harmony turned this way and that by one of the great harmonic minds in jazz, while pieces like "Harvest Time" and "Blue Otani" show his own writing stripped back to its essentials. It is an intimate, nocturnal record, best heard late and quiet, and it reminds you that beneath all the electricity Hancock was always, first, a magnificent pianist.

The Piano was released only in Japan at first, and it became so beloved there that clean original copies have long been hard to find. Part of its reputation rests on the sound. Direct-to-disc recording captures a performance in a single unbroken take with a clarity that tape can soften, and the Master Sound series was CBS/Sony's showcase for the format, pressed to the highest standard the label could manage. For anyone who cares about how a piano can sound on a record, this is one of the references.

This copy is the 1979 Japanese Master Sound direct-to-disc pressing on CBS/Sony, catalogue number 30AP 1033, in a gatefold sleeve and the Master Sound inserts.