Maiden Voyage (composition)

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"Maiden Voyage" opening vamp: Dsus chord in D Dorian,[3] or mixolydian.[4]  Play (help·info)

"Maiden Voyage" is a jazz composition by Herbie Hancock from his 1965 album Maiden Voyage. It features Hancock's quartet – trumpeter Freddie Hubbard, bassist Ron Carter and drummer Tony Williams – with additional saxophonist George Coleman. It is one of Hancock's best-known compositions and has become a jazz standard.[5]

The piece was used in a Fabergé commercial and was originally listed on the album's master tape as "TV Jingle" until Hancock's sister came up with the new name.[6] In the liner notes for the Maiden Voyage album, Hancock states that the composition was an attempt to capture "the splendor of a sea-going vessel on its maiden voyage".

Structure

Opening chord: minor eleventh chord (Am7/D).[2]  Play (help·info)
Rhythmic ostinato, a transformation of the bossa nova rhythm.[1]

A modal jazz piece, the composition follows a 32-bar AABA form with only two chords in each section:[7]

Ami7/D   |   |   |   |   Cmi7/F    |   |   |
Ami7/D   |   |   |   |   Cmi7/F    |   |   |
Bbmi7/Eb |   |   |   |   C#mi9     |   |   |
Ami7/D   |   |   |   |   Cmi7/F    |   |   |   [2]

The chord voicings used by Hancock make extensive use of perfect fourths. Jazz.com's Ted Gioia describes the harmonic progression used as, "four suspended chords," [8] Jerry Coker describes the progression as "only sus. 4 chords,"[9] while The Real Book lists the chords as four minor seventh chords with the bass note a fifth below the root[10] which matches Hancock's description of the opening chord (right).[2] The Real Book also spells the fourth chord (mm.22-24) as A♭-7/D♭,[10] while Owens spells it C♯mi13.[11] The pitches of C♯mi9 (ninth chord) are C♯ E G♯ B D♯ and the pitches of A♭-7/D♭ enharmonically, and C♯mi13 (thirteenth chord), are C♯ G♯ B D♯ F♯ (A♯).

Covers

  • American rock band Toto covered the piece on their 2002 Through the Looking Glass album
  • American jam band Phish has been known to cover the piece in their live shows, and a recording of it appears on their live album, Colorado '88
  • Robert Glasper performed a cover of Maiden Voyage interspersed into the Radiohead song "Everything In It's Right Place" on the album, In My Element.

Notes

  1. ↑ Kernfeld, Barry (1997). What to Listen For in Jazz, p.23. ISBN 9780300072594.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Kernfeld, Barry (1997). What to Listen for in Jazz, p.68. ISBN 978-0-300-07259-4.
  3. ↑ Herder, Ronald (1987). 1000 Keyboard Ideas, p.75. ISBN 978-0-943748-48-1.
  4. ↑ Coker, Jerry (1997). Jerry Coker's complete method for improvisation: for all instruments, p.64. ISBN 978-0-7692-1856-4.
  5. ↑ Carr, Ian; Fairweather, Digby; Priestley, Brian (2004). The Rough Guide to Jazz. Rough Guides. p. 332. ISBN 1-84353-256-5. 
  6. ↑ Rosenthal, David H. (1993). Hard Bop: Jazz and black music 1955–1965. Oxford University Press US. p. 68. ISBN 0-19-508556-6. 
  7. ↑ Kernfeld, Barry Dean (1995). The Blackwell Guide to Recorded Jazz. Wiley-Blackwell. p. 388. ISBN 0-631-19552-1. 
  8. ↑ Gioia, Ted (18 December 2007). "Herbie Hancock: Maiden Voyage". Jazz.com. Retrieved 30 August 2010. 
  9. ↑ Coker, Jerry (1984). Jazz Keyboard for Pianists and Non-Pianists, p.46. ISBN 0-7692-3323-6.
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 The Real Book, Volume I. Hal Leonard corporation. 2004. p. 261. ISBN 0-634-06038-4. 
  11. ↑ Owens, Thomas (1996). Bebop: The Music and Its Players, p.164. ISBN 9780195106510.
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