''The Quintet'' is an album by V.S.O.P. It was compiled from two concert performances: one at the

Greek Theatre Ancient Greek theatre was a theatrical culture that flourished in ancient Greece from 700 BC. The city-state of Athens, which became a significant cultural, political, and religious place during this period, was its centre, where the theatre was ...

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant u ...

, on July 16, 1977; the other at the

San Diego Civic Theatre The San Diego Civic Theatre is a 2,967-capacity performing arts venue located in downtown San Diego, California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across ...

on July 18, 1977. The quintet were keyboardist

Herbie Hancock Herbert Jeffrey Hancock (born April 12, 1940) is an American jazz pianist, keyboardist, bandleader, and composer. Hancock started his career with trumpeter Donald Byrd's group. He shortly thereafter joined the Miles Davis Quintet, where he help ...

, trumpeter

Freddie Hubbard Frederick Dewayne Hubbard (April 7, 1938 – December 29, 2008) was an American jazz trumpeter. He played bebop, hard bop, and post-bop styles from the early 1960s onwards. His unmistakable and influential tone contributed to new perspectives fo ...

, drummer Tony Williams, bassist

Ron Carter Ronald Levin Carter (born May 4, 1937) is an American jazz double bassist. His appearances on 2,221 recording sessions make him the most-recorded jazz bassist in history. He has won three Grammy awards, and is also a cellist who has recorded nu ...

and saxophonist

Wayne Shorter Wayne Shorter (born August 25, 1933) is an American jazz saxophonist and composer. Shorter came to prominence in the late 1950s as a member of, and eventually primary composer for, Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers. In the 1960s, he joined Miles Davi ...

(on tenor and soprano). The album was originally released in October 1977 as a 2-disc LP by

Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music, Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the North American division of Japanese Conglomerate (company), conglomerate Sony. It was founded on Janua ...

Reception

An excerpt from a review in the January 1978 issue of ''

Downbeat ' (styled in all caps) is an American music magazine devoted to "jazz, blues and beyond", the last word indicating its expansion beyond the jazz realm which it covered exclusively in previous years. The publication was established in 1934 in Chi ...

'' is quoted on the back of the album and describes the performance:

What the audience applauds on this album transcends mere form, technique and instrumentation. They were thrilled by the charisma generated by five masters who listened to one another's inner ears, spoke to each other at multiple levels, and, no matter how dense the musical content, conveyed their messages to the audience with amazing clarity.

Legacy

"Third Plane" and "Lawra" were released also on studio album '' Third Plane'' (1977), which Hancock, Carter and Williams had recorded a few days before, on July 13, 1977. "Third Plane" became one of Carter's most renowned compositions. "Byrdlike" was originally recorded by Hubbard for his 1962's ''

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''. Shorter also played on this version. "Dolores" was originally recorded by

Miles Davis Miles Dewey Davis III (May 26, 1926September 28, 1991) was an American trumpeter, bandleader, and composer. He is among the most influential and acclaimed figures in the history of jazz and 20th-century music. Davis adopted a variety of music ...

Quintet (consisting of Shorter, Hancock, Carter and Williams) in 1967 and released on 1967's ''

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''. "Jessica" was originally released on Hancock's ''

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'' album, recorded in 1969. "Little Waltz" is a song from Carter's ''

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'' album, recorded in March 1977.

Track listing

Side 1 #"One of a Kind" (Hubbard) – 9:27 #"Third Plane" (Carter) – 7:19 Side 2 #"Jessica" (Hancock) – 7:02 #"Lawra" (Williams) – 9:43 Side 3 #"Darts" (Hancock) – 8:54 #"Dolores" (Shorter) – 11:31 Side 4 #"Little Waltz" (Carter) – 9:33 #"Byrdlike" (Hubbard) – 8:05

Personnel

Musicians *

– flugelhorn, trumpet *

– soprano saxophone, tenor saxophone *

– piano, keyboards, vocals *

– double bass * Tony Williams – drums Production *

David Rubinson David Rubinson (born August 7, 1942 in Brooklyn, New York)Internet Movie DatabaseMini-Biography of David Rubinson Retrieved 2012-06-05.as of 2017 it's 1962? is an American recording engineer and music producer, who was particularly involved in music ...

– producer * Jeffrey Cohen – associate producer *

Fred Catero Fred Catero (February 4, 1933 – October 6, 2022) was an American record producer and engineer. Catero was originally from New York City, where he worked for CBS Records/Columbia, recording artists such as Chicago and Blood, Sweat & Tears. Invit ...

– recording engineer * Bryan Bell – live audio engineer * Chris Minto – assistant engineer * Les D. Cooper – remote crew * Dennis Mays – remote crew * Shawn Murphy – remote crew * Paul Sandweiss – remote crew * Ray Thompson – remote crew * Russ Anderson – design * Herbie Green – design *

Bruce Talamon Bruce Wayne Talamon (born July 31, 1949) is an American photographer. He is best known for photographing R&B and soul musicians during the 1970s and 1980s, and for his editorial work as a contract and stills photographer. Early life Born in ...

– photography * Kaz Tsuruta – photography * Conrad Silvert – liner notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Quintet, The Herbie Hancock live albums 1977 live albums Albums produced by Dave Rubinson Columbia Records live albums