''The Prisoner'' is the seventh

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 hel ...

album, recorded and released in 1969 for the

Blue Note In jazz and blues, a blue note is a note that—for expressive purposes—is sung or played at a slightly different pitch from standard. Typically the alteration is between a quartertone and a semitone, but this varies depending on the musical c ...

label, his final project for the label before moving to Warner Bros. Records. It is dedicated to the memory of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., who had been assassinated the previous year. Hancock suggested at the time that he had been able to get closer to his real self with this music than on any other previous album.Original liner notes by Herb Wong Participating musicians include tenor saxophonist

Joe Henderson Joe Henderson (April 24, 1937 – June 30, 2001) was an American jazz tenor saxophonist. In a career spanning more than four decades, Henderson played with many of the leading American players of his day and recorded for several prominent l ...

, trumpeter Johnny Coles (on

flugelhorn The flugelhorn (), also spelled fluegelhorn, flugel horn, or flügelhorn, is a brass instrument that resembles the trumpet and cornet but has a wider, more conical bore. Like trumpets and cornets, most flugelhorns are pitched in B, though som ...

), trombonist

Garnett Brown Garnett Brown (January 31, 1936 – October 9, 2021) was a jazz trombonist who worked with The Crusaders, Herbie Hancock, Lionel Hampton, Earth Wind and Fire and others. Born in Memphis, Tennessee, he graduated from the University of Arka ...

, flautist

Hubert Laws Hubert Laws (born November 10, 1939) is an American flutist and saxophonist with a career spanning over 40 years in jazz, classical, and other music genres. Laws is one of the few classical artists who has also mastered jazz, pop, and rhythm- ...

, bassist

Buster Williams Charles Anthony "Buster" Williams (born April 17, 1942) is an American jazz bassist. Williams is known for his membership in pianist Herbie Hancock's early 1970s group, working with guitarist Larry Coryell from the 1980s to present, working in the ...

and drummer Albert “Tootie” Heath. Hancock praised flute player Laws, suggesting that he was one of the finest flautists in classical or jazz music.

Composition

Like his ambitious '' Speak Like a Child'', ''The Prisoner'' purports to stand as a "social statement written in music". The title track seeks to express "how black people have been imprisoned for a long time." The piece was first heard live in 1968, during a performance at the University of California Jazz Festival. "Firewater" represents 'the social duality of the oppressor and the oppressed: the fire symbolises the heat in violence and (abuse of) power, whilst the feeling of water recalls Martin Luther King. "He Who Lives in Fear" also alludes to King, since he "had to live in an atmosphere charged with intimidation". (Disappointingly, perhaps, given the ambitions Herbie seems to have expressed for the tune, an early arrangement was used as the musical theme for a Silva Thins cigarette TV commercial.) Continuing the album's apparent theme, the "Promise of the Sun" symbolises "how the sun promises life and freedom to all living things, and yet blacks are not yet free."

Track listing

All compositions by Herbie Hancock, except where noted. #"I Have a Dream" – 10:58 #"The Prisoner" – 7:57 #"Firewater" (

) – 7:33 #"He Who Lives in Fear" – 6:51 #"Promise of the Sun" – 7:52 Bonus tracks on CD reissue #

"The Prisoner" lternate Take– 5:47 #"Firewater" lternate Take(Buster Williams) – 8:38 Recorded on April 18 (#2, 4, 6), April 21 (#1) and April 23 (#3, 5, 7), 1969.

Personnel

– acoustic piano, electric piano * Johnny Coles –

– trombone *

– tenor saxophone, alto flute *

– bass * Tootie Heath – drums *Tony Studd –

bass trombone The bass trombone (german: Bassposaune, it, trombone basso) is the bass instrument in the trombone family of brass instruments. Modern instruments are pitched in the same B♭ as the tenor trombone but with a larger bore, bell and mouthpiece to ...

(1, 2, 4) *Jack Jeffers – bass trombone (3, 5) *

– flute (1, 2, 4) * Jerome Richardson – bass clarinet (1, 2, 4), flute (3, 5) *Romeo Penque – bass clarinet (3, 5)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Prisoner 1969 albums Herbie Hancock albums Albums produced by Duke Pearson Blue Note Records albums albums recorded at Van Gelder Studio