Happy 80th, Herbie

The other day, I listened to Herbie Hancock's first solo album, Takin' Off, and later was googling for more info about it, and realized that he is going to be 80 years old today, 12 April 2020! Happy birthday, Herbie!! So, of course, tonight had to involve some Herbie.

• 
  Herbie Hancock, My Point of View (Blue Note BLP-4126, 1963)
  This is an amazingly traditional, hard-bop sort of album. For Blue Note, of course, that isn't very surprising, but I was a bit surprised that Herbie was doing such things in 1963, around the time he teamed up with Miles.
  Alfred Lion has teamed Herbie up here with some Blue Note veterans: Hank Mobley on sax and Donald Byrd on trumpet, though with a rhythm section that featured a 17 year old Tony Williams. There's good stuff here, but it's more good then great.
  The copy I have is a 'black b' mastered by Van Gelder, so probably from the original mastering session. Timbrally, it is wonderful. At one point, I honestly thought there was a sax in the room with me. But it's a bit dual-mono: Byrd and Grant Green (when he's there) are panned hard left; Herbie and Chuck Israels (bass) are center; and Williams and Mobley are hard right. It sounds like the Atlantic recordings from this era (though, again, with much better timbre).
• 
  Herbie Hancock, Inventions and Dimensions (Blue Note BLP-4147, 1964)
  I had never heard this album before, and why the hell not? It is a great record. It's basically a trio recording, with Paul Chambers on bass and Willie Bobo on drums, but with additional percussion (congas, e.g.) from Osvaldo Martinez.
  It's much more modal than My Point of View, and just has much more of a sense of exploration than that album does.
  The vinyl I have is one of the 'Scorpio' reissues from the early 2000s. These vary in quality---many of them seem to have been cut from digital masters---but this one is pretty good. I listened to side one on Qobuz, the 96/24 version, and then listened to the first two tunes on side 2 on vinyl, and the last on Qobuz again. They were definitely different. The hirez had more sparkle at the top, but it was also more forward, and I'm not entirely sure which I preferred. Most notably, the vinyl is dead quiet---like MFSL or Classic records quiet---so they must have used a very good vinyl formulation.
• 
  Duke Ellington, The Cosmic Scene (Columbia CL-1198, 1958)
  This is mostly a collection of classic Ellington tunes, performed by a relatively small, eight-person band. It's a nice album, though not a great one, and is only available in mono. Stereo recording was in use at that time, and Indigos, also from 1958, is available in 'true' stereo. But my understanding is that stereo tended to be reserved for classical music, even at large labels like Columbia, back then.
  The copy I have is a 6-eye white label promo. It's in pretty good shape, but unfortunately there is a bad scratch at the very end of "Spacemen", which skips it back. But it's a nice recording, with good timbre for the era.

This one actually came from the night before:

• 
  Oregon, Oregon in Concert
  A live recording, though in front of an 'invited' audience at the Vanguard studios. It's a good performance, though not as good, I think, as the best Oregon material from this era (meaning: Winter Light and Distant Hills). "Summer Solstice" is a highlight for me, and there are some wonderful moments throughout.
  My copy is an original, very clean, so it gives a good sense for the recording which, unfortunately, is just all right. It's a bit flat, as if everything is close-miked. You get a sense for the hall when there is applause and when things are quiet, but not so much when they are playing.