Takin' Off APHI 501036 (including the Mercury Prize-nominated album

(including the Mercury Prize-nominated album Driftglass

with his limitless technique

which asks “Where should the birds fly

The album includes one of Hancock’s best-known compositions

I grew up steeped in these old blues in the hills overlooking the valley of the River Finn just outside the town of Ballybofey in County Donegal

Takin' Off APHI 501036 (including the Mercury Prize-nominated albumTakin Off was pianist Herbie Hancocks (born in Chicago on April 12, 1940; he is 79 at this writing) first album under his own name. All of the compositions are by the leader, who is backed by such stars as Dexter Gordon, Freddie Hubbard, Butch Warren, and Billy Higgins. The album includes one of Hancocks best known compositions, Watermelon Man, which made it to the Top 100 on the pop charts. The tune would become a jazz standard, after being covered