Maiden Voyage (composition)

"Maiden Voyage" opening vamp: Dsus chord in D Dorian,^[1] or mixolydian.^[2]  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.^[3]

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.^[4] 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).^[5]  Play (help·info)

A modal jazz piece, the composition follows a 32-bar AABA form with only two chords in each section^[6]:

AMI7/D   |   |   |   |   CMI7/F   |   |   |
AMI7/D   |   |   |   |   CMI7/F   |   |   |
BbMI7/Eb |   |   |   |   C#MI7/F# |   |   |
AMI7/D   |   |   |   |   CMI7/F   |   |   |[5]

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,"^[7] Jerry Coker describes the progression as, "only sus. 4 chords,"^[8] while The Real Book lists the chords as four minor seventh chords with the bass note a fifth below the root^[9] which matches Hancocks' description of the opening chord (right).^[5]

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

Notes

1. ^ Herder, Ronald (1987). 1000 Keyboard Ideas, p.75. ISBN 9780943748481.
2. ^ Coker, Jerry (1997). Jerry Coker's complete method for improvisation: for all instruments, p.64. ISBN 9780769218564.
3. ^ Carr, Ian; Fairweather, Digby; Priestley, Brian (2004). The Rough Guide to Jazz. Rough Guides. p. 332. ISBN 1843532565. 
4. ^ Rosenthal, David H. (1993). Hard Bop: Jazz and black music 1955–1965. Oxford University Press US. p. 68. ISBN 0195085566. 
5. ^ ^{a b c} Kernfeld, Barry (1997). What to Listen for in Jazz, p.68. ISBN 9780300072594.
6. ^ Kernfeld, Barry Dean (1995). The Blackwell Guide to Recorded Jazz. Wiley-Blackwell. p. 388. ISBN 0631195521. 
7. ^ Gioia, Ted (18 December 2007). "Herbie Hancock: Maiden Voyage". Jazz.com. http://www.jazz.com/music/2007/12/18/herbie-hancock-maiden-voyage-2. Retrieved 30 August 2010. 
8. ^ Coker, Jerry (1984). Jazz Keyboard for Pianists and Non-Pianists, p.46. ISBN 0769233236.
9. ^ The Real Book, Volume I. Hal Leonard corporation. 2004. p. 261. ISBN 0634060384.