The New Standard - Herbie Hancock (2LP Vinyl) [Verve by Request]

The New Standard by Herbie Hancock.

When Herbie Hancock reached for "The New Standard," he did exactly what the title promises: he took the shape of the modern songbook and reimagined it through the language of jazz. Rather than mining the familiar catalog of show tunes and bebop heads, he turned to material drawn from popular songwriting of more recent decades, treating each piece as raw ore to be melted down and recast in his own image.

The album opens with a run that signals its intentions immediately. "New York Minute" sets the pace before "Mercy Street" opens up more contemplative territory, and the well known "Norwegian Wood" arrives as a familiar melody bent toward improvisation. From there the first half moves through "When Can I See You" and "You've Got It Bad Girl," songs whose vocal origins are dissolved into instrumental phrasing, leaving room for interpretation and space.

The middle of the record leans into a kind of gentle intensity. "Love Is Stronger Than Pride" carries a slow burning emotional weight, and the traditional "Scarborough Fair" folds centuries old melody into a modern harmonic setting. These are the moments where the concept of the project reveals itself most clearly: melody as a point of departure, not a destination, with the tune serving as a doorway into extended playing.

The closing stretch is the most adventurous, gathering an unlikely set of sources under a single roof. "Thieves In The Temple" brings a funk inflected edge, while "All Apologies" pulls a grunge era anthem into the acoustic jazz idiom, stripping it back to its melodic bones. "Manhattan (Islands Of Lights And Love)" offers an evocative, cinematic sweep, and "Your Gold Teeth II" closes the record with a knotty, playful complexity that rewards close listening.

What holds the whole thing together is Hancock's conviction that a great song is a great song regardless of its origin. By pulling from such a wide range of writers and eras, he builds a case for a living, expanding standard, one that keeps growing as new generations of songwriters add to the common language. The sequencing carries you from bright openers through introspective ballads and out into the daring final side, so that the album functions as a journey rather than a collection.

For collectors, this is one of those records that rewards both the casual spin and the deep dive. It sits comfortably in a jazz collection while stretching the definition of what belongs there, a document of an artist confident enough to reshape the canon on his own terms. Spread across four sides, it invites you to linger with each interpretation and hear these songs anew.

Pressing Details:
Track Listing:
A1. New York Minute
A2. Mercy Street
B1. Norwegian Wood
B2. When Can I See You
B3. You've Got It Bad Girl
C1. Love Is Stronger Than Pride
C2. Scarborough Fair
D1. Thieves In The Temple
D2. All Apologies
D3. Manhattan (Islands Of Lights And Love)
D4. Your Gold Teeth II

Artist: Herbie Hancock

Format: 2LP

Genre: Jazz

Label: Verve Records

Catalog Number: B0037675-01

Series: Verve by Request

Release Year: 2023

Country: United States

Condition: Sealed (New)