dreadpirateroberts
A furious live set of some stand out songs from a fire-cracker line-up, really, what's not to like here?
Hancock's V.S.O.P Quintet (same as the classic Miles Quintet of the 1960s - Hancock, Carter, Shorter & Williams but with Hubbard on trumpet) really cooks on this 1977 concert recorded in Tokyo. It's a monster of an album to my ear - everyone seems to be having a blast and the songs are snappier, faster - yet there's always room to adjust the arrangements.
Carter in particular sounds funkier than I've heard him - especially on Hubbard's 'Red Clay' and the reworking in parts of Hancock's 'Maiden Voyage' is just superb.
It's hard for me to say a bad thing about this album - so I won't! It's generally a much more fiery set of songs than the other V.S.O.P releases and if you like any of the legends mentioned in the line up, grab this album.