Happenings Bobby Hutcherson Artist

{|Bobby Hutcherson|}'s first quartet outing, {|Happenings|}, casts the brightest spotlight on the vibraphonist's soloing abilities, matching him once again with pianist {|Herbie Hancock|} (who is also heavily featured) and drummer {|Joe Chambers|}, p... Read more

{|Bobby Hutcherson|}'s first quartet outing, {|Happenings|}, casts the brightest spotlight on the vibraphonist's soloing abilities, matching him once again with pianist {|Herbie Hancock|} (who is also heavily featured) and drummer {|Joe Chambers|}, plus bassist {|Bob Cranshaw|}. For that matter, the album also leans heavily on {|Hutcherson|}'s compositional skills; save for {|Hancock|}'s {|Maiden Voyage,|} six of the seven numbers are {|Hutcherson|} originals. Given his reputation as a modernist, most of the pieces here are structured pretty simply -- there's a lot of straightforward modal {|hard bop|}, giving {|Hutcherson|} and {|Hancock|} plenty of room to solo. They handle much of the material with a light, mellow touch, trading off meditative licks even on the more up-tempo pieces and poignant, lyrical lines on the {|ballads|} {|Bouquet|} and {|When You Are Near.|} The two exceptions are the opening and closing numbers: {|Aquarian Moon|} is challenging {|post-bop|}, while the sinister {|The Omen|} finds {|Hutcherson|} opening up the bag of tricks he learned from the freely structured group dialogues {|Chambers|} wrote for albums past. Sharp stabs from the piano signal transition to a new, sometimes unaccompanied lead instrument, and {|Hutcherson|}'s darting marimba lines build up a claustrophobic tension. That doesn't change the overall feel of the album, though, which ends up a charmingly relaxed, low-key outing and a nice addition to {|Hutcherson|}'s {|Blue Note|} catalog. ~ Steve Huey Less