The story behind puzzle No. 11
Herbie Hancock · Empyrean Isles · Blue Note · 1964
A piano vamp, a funky bass line and a melody made of just a few notes. Cantaloupe Island sounds simple, and that is exactly why it has lasted.
Hancock recorded Cantaloupe Island on June 17, 1964, at Rudy Van Gelder's studio in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey. It appeared on Empyrean Isles, released by Blue Note that November.
The band was a quartet with no saxophone. Freddie Hubbard played cornet instead of his usual trumpet, and the rhythm section was Ron Carter and Tony Williams, who were also Hancock's bandmates in Miles Davis's quintet.
In 1993 the group Us3 built their track Cantaloop (Flip Fantasia) on a sample of the original recording. It reached No. 9 on the Billboard Hot 100, which introduced the tune to a whole new audience.
Who's on it
Keep listening
Play Watermelon Man, puzzle No. 7, and then Cantaloupe Island. You can hear Hancock taking the same funky idea somewhere cooler.
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