Oliloqui Valley - Herbie Hancock Transcription Project (Part 1)

Here is the first installment in the set of Herbie Hancock transcriptions that I completed this spring:
Oliloqui Valley from the 1964 album Empyrean Isles has always been one of my favorite Herbie Hancock compositions so it seemed like a good place to start. It's definitely not one of his flashiest solos but I was drawn to the great medium tempo feel as well as the cool and mysterious vibe of the tune. Also, the band members feel especially tuned in to each other especially during Freddie Hubbard's solo.



 Here are a few of the aspects of the solo that I found interesting:
1) Anticipation: The form of this tune consists mostly of minor chords lasting for 4 measures however, Herbie creates tension and interest by anticipating the upcoming chord by as much as 2 measures in some places (i.e. measure 71-73). Additionally, anticipating chords allows the phrasing of Herbie's ideas to sound more loose and to prevent the structure of the tune from making the solo feel static.

 2) Treatment of minor chords and use of melodic minor: Though the chords on the transcription are labeled mi7, Herbie tends to alternate between the mi7 and mi6 voicing. On the Fmi and Abmi, he tends to favor melodic minor lines, and on the Emi tends to favor dorian mode. Another way I view the alternation between the mi7 and mi6 voicing is as a non-resolving ii-V (for example: Abmi7 - Db7). In this way, some of Herbie's minor vocabulary can be also be applied to dominant chords.

 3) Use of  Triplets: Throughout the solo, Herbie groups or breaks up triplets in a few different ways. In measures 15-18, he groups triplets in groups of four in an ascending diminished pattern create an interesting rhythmic effect. He does the same thing again in mm. 76 and in mm. 61 plays triplets in descending 4ths. In mm. 33-35 he uses a repeating rhythmic pattern featuring a tied over triplet and uses the left hand as punctuation. In measure 55, the ascending triplet figure creates a sense of urgency.

 4) Motivic Development: Part of what makes this solo easy to grab on to is the way Herbie takes an idea and runs with it, giving his solo a sense of continuity. A great example of this is the way he takes the triplet figure in mm. 27 and builds up through mm. 33 and into the arrival on the Emi7 chord.

6)  Left Hand Comping:  Checking out they way Herbie uses his left hand was very instructive and definitely something that I'm trying to pay attention to in my playing.  Herbie achieves a nice balance between reinforcing his right hand lines with hits and filling in the space between his lines.  In many places Herbie will split up the voicing in his LH, a device I've also  noticed in Joey Calderazzo's playing.
Herbie will also occasionally hit a bass note for punctuation (i.e. mm. 5).  It's also interesting to note that in many places, Herbie is not afraid to lay out with his left hand.  When transcribing the left hand I was mostly concerned with the rhythm and the top note.

 5) Lastly, I noticed that Herbie often took a similar approach to the same chords when compared between choruses. For example, on the last 8 bars of the form he tended to use triads, octaves and similar rhythmic figures. I've always found the most comforting thing about transcribing is realizing that even a master like Herbie often uses similar material or figures throughout a solo and not everything moment has to be mind-blowingly innovative. What makes this solo memorable has as much to do with the larger structure and phrasing as it has to do with the individual notes.