Speak Like a Child (album)

Speak Like a Child
Studio album by
Herbie Hancock
ReleasedOctober 1968[1]
RecordedMarch 6 and 9, 1968
StudioVan Gelder Studio, Englewood Cliffs
GenreHard bop, jazz
Length37:05 original LP
LabelBlue Note
BST 84279″
ProducerDuke Pearson
Herbie Hancock chronology
Blow-Up
(1966) 		Speak Like a Child
(1968) 		The Prisoner
(1969)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic[2]
The Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide[3]
The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings[4]

Speak Like a Child, the sixth album by American jazz pianist Herbie Hancock, which was recorded and released by Blue Note Records in 1968, features Hancock's arrangements for an unusual front line of Jerry Dodgion on alto flute, Peter Phillips on bass trombone, and Thad Jones on flugelhorn. Critic Nat Hentoff described the album as an "impressive further stage in the evolution of Herbie Hancock as writer and player," saying it is characterized by a "singular quality of incisive, searching lyricism." Unusually, none of the wind players perform solos on any song. The rhythm section is bassist Ron Carter and drummer Mickey Roker.

The cover photograph was taken by David Bythewood, an acquaintance of Hancock. The photo depicts Hancock in silhouette kissing his wife-to-be, Gigi Meixner.[5]

  1. ^ Billboard Oct 26, 1968
  2. ^ Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Speak Like a Child - Herbie Hancock | AllMusic". allmusic.com. Retrieved 28 February 2012.
  3. ^ Swenson, J., ed. (1985). The Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide. U.S.: Random House/Rolling Stone. p. 93. ISBN 0-394-72643-X.
  4. ^ Cook, Richard; Morton, Brian (2008). The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings (9th ed.). Penguin. p. 641. ISBN 978-0-141-03401-0.
  5. ^ Original liner notes by Nat Hentoff