Cantaloupe Island

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"Cantaloupe Island"
Song by Herbie Hancock
from the album Empyrean Isles
Released1964
StudioVan Gelder Studio, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey
GenreModal jazz
Length5:33
LabelBlue Note Records
Songwriter(s)Herbie Hancock
Music video
Cantaloupe Island (Remastered) 1999 on YouTube

"Cantaloupe Island" is a jazz standard composed by Herbie Hancock and recorded for his 1964 album Empyrean Isles[1] during his early years as one of the members of Miles Davis' 1960s quintet. Hancock later recorded a jazz-funk fusion version of the track, as Cantelope Island, on his 1976 album Secrets.

Musicians[edit]

The musicians for the original 1964 recording were: Hancock (piano), Freddie Hubbard (cornet), Ron Carter (bass) and Tony Williams (drums).[2] The 1976 recording featured Bennie Maupin (saxophone), Wah Wah Watson (guitar), Paul Jackson (bass), and James Levi (drums).

Samples[edit]

The jazz rap group Us3 sampled "Cantaloupe Island" in their song "Cantaloop (Flip Fantasia)", from their album Hand On the Torch (1993). "Cantaloop (Flip Fantasia)" was recorded as a demo a year before the group's first release. but in the US, "Cantaloop (Flip Fantasia)" reached, No. 21 on the R&B Single Sales chart No. 9 on the Billboard Hot 100, becoming the group's only top 40 single.[3] It did not chart initially in their native UK, but after its US success, it was subsequently re-released in UK where it peaked at No. 23.[4] "Cantaloop" was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) on March 25, 1994, for selling over 500,000 copies.

Awards[edit]

In 2000, "Cantaloupe Island" placed at #19 in the Jazz24.org "Jazz 100: One Hundred Quintessential Jazz Songs".[5]

In popular culture[edit]

The track is featured in the Woody Allen's film Coup de chance released in 2023.[6]

References[edit]

  1. ^ Ouellette, Dan (2005). "Hancock goes beyond Jazz". Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. p. 43. ISSN 0006-2510.
  2. ^ Cook, Richard; Morton, Brian (2008). The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings (9th ed.). Penguin. p. 641. ISBN 978-0-141-03401-0.
  3. ^ Whitburn, Joel (2004). Top R&B/Hip-Hop Singles: 1942-2004. Record Research. p. 599.
  4. ^ "Official Charts Company: Us3". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 2016-08-30.
  5. ^ "The Jazz 100". jazz24.org. 2000.
  6. ^ Gleiberman, Owen (4 September 2023). "'Coup de Chance' Review: Woody Allen's Drama of Upper-Middle-Class Murder Is His Best Movie Since 'Blue Jasmine' (or Maybe 'Match Point')". Variety. Retrieved 3 February 2024.

External links[edit]