“Empyrean Isles“ was Herbie Hancock's fourth solo album for Blue Note. Although the pianist had already scored a real hit with ‘Watermelon Man’ from his debut album ‘Takin’ Off”, it was only with “Empyrean Isles” that he finally established himself as an independent artist. As on his previous albums, Hancock presented only his own compositions, of which “One Finger Snap” and the timeless hit “Cantaloupe Island” stood out. The latter experienced a chart revival in 1993 when the British jazz-rap band Us3 sampled the track and celebrated worldwide success with “Cantaloop (Flip Fantasia)”.
Together with Freddie Hubbard (trumpet), Ron Carter (bass) and Tony Williams (drums), Hancock defined a sound on “Empyrean Isles” that would shape his jazz work to this day: funk, delicate harmonies and experimental improvisations that work together very naturally. The album recordings for Blue Note took place on June 17, 1964 at the Rudy Van Gelder Studio in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey.
As part of the extremely popular “Blue Note 85th Anniversary Reissue Series”, Universal Music Japan presents the sonically impressive remastering of this jazz classic by the legendary Kevin Gray, who is also responsible for the analog reissues of Blue Note US such as “Tone Poet” and “Classic Vinyl” – as a limited-edition, high-resolution SHM-SACD version (192 kHz/24 bit, Single-Layer).
This title is an SHM SACD. This format is the further development of the single-layer SACD and uses a particularly light-transparent plastic (Super High Material). It allows a much better readability of the pit-land structures on the surface than is possible with hybrid SACDs. Universal's SHM SACDs are generally re-digitized to DSD from the albums' master tapes without any changes. SHM SACDs can be played on any SACD player. Please do not use L'Art du Son or alcohol-based cleaning agents. - Please note: All titles are designed by Universal Music as limited edition collector's items for the Japanese market.
Title
1. One Finger Snap
2. Oliloqui Valley
3. Cantaloupe Island
4. The Egg
