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Empyrean Isles

( 1964 Albums )

Recording and compositio..
Reception
Track listing

Original release
1999 CD reissue

Personnel

Technical personnel

Charts
References

C O N T E N T S

Albums Empyrean Hancock Jazz

Rank: 100%

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Empyrean Isles is the fourth studio album by American jazz pianist Herbie Hancock, released on Blue Note Records in November 1964.

(2025). 9781317464303, Routledge. . ISBN 9781317464303

(1996). 9780028973654, Macmillan Library Reference. . ISBN 9780028973654

The album features Hancock alongside trumpeter Freddie Hubbard, bassist Ron Carter, and drummer Tony Williams.

Recording and composition

Empyrean Isles was recorded at Van Gelder Studio in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, on June 17, 1964. Freddie Hubbard played cornet rather than his typical trumpet on the session. The four compositions on the album, including the future Jazz standard "Cantaloupe Island", are Hancock originals written over a two-year period.

Reception

The Penguin Guide to Jazz awarded Empyrean Isles four out of four stars.

AllMusic critic Stephen Thomas Erlewine gave the album five out of five stars, calling it "a record that officially established Hancock as a major artist in his own right."