Herbie Hancock, music · Introduced on his album Empyrean Isles (Blue Note, 1964)
Cantaloupe Island
Cantaloupe Island is a 16-bar groove tune in F minor by pianist Herbie Hancock, first recorded in 1964. Players love it for three chords of four bars each and a short, repeated piano riff. You will hear it at jam sessions, in student bands and under a 1990s hip-hop hit.
▶ Plays the whole path in order, one recording after another.
- 1 Learn the song Herbie Hancock✓
- 2 Hear the composer's own arrangement Donald Byrd✓
- 3 Hear it on violin Jean-Luc Ponty✓
- 4 Hear it played solo Herbie Hancock✓
- 5 Hear it with words Mark Murphy✓
- 6 Hear a funk band remake Herbie Hancock✓
- 7 Hear the 1964 band again Herbie Hancock✓
- 8 Hear it on guitar Lionel Loueke✓
How the tune works
The tune runs 16 bars on three chords, each held for four bars. Fm7 opens the chorus, D♭7 follows, then Dm7, and Fm7 closes it before the chorus starts again. D♭7 and Dm7 each bring in notes from outside F minor, so bars 5 and 9 are where the sound changes most. The chart is a vamp: the same chord stays for four bars at a time, so soloists can treat each chord as its own scale, F Dorian over Fm7, D♭ Lydian dominant over D♭7 and D Dorian over Dm7.
Each box is one bar of 4/4. The chorus has four lines of four bars, and each line holds one chord. Play it straight through and repeat. A tag marks the bar where each new chord area starts.
Taken from a bass-guitar lesson that gives the 16 bars as four-bar sections in F minor: F minor 7, D♭7, D minor, F minor 7. The Jazz-circle harmonic analysis agrees on the order and bar count, and writes the second chord as D♭9. Jazz Guitar Comprehensive lists the same three chords, gives the form as two sections of eight bars, and lists the key as F major. This is not a printed lead sheet, so compare it with the one you play from and with the recording.
Listen in this order
Play all 8 on YouTube ↗Start with Hancock's 1964 quartet, then hear his own arrangement for Donald Byrd. The next versions add a violin, a solo electric piano, a singer, a funk band, the 1964 rhythm section reunited and finally a guitarist.
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Step 1 · Learn the song Now playing
Herbie Hancock (Quartet, with Freddie Hubbard) 1964
Empyrean Isles
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- Listen for
- The groove rests on a repeated piano vamp, and the chorus lasts 16 bars with a new chord every four bars: Fm7, D♭7, Dm7, then Fm7 again.
- Try this
- Play one chord for each four-bar block, in the order Fm7, D♭7, Dm7, Fm7. Count the bars out loud until you stay with the recording for two full choruses.
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Step 2 · Hear the composer's own arrangement Now playing
Donald Byrd (Septet, arranged by Herbie Hancock) 1964
Up With Donald Byrd
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- Listen for
- A vocal group joins the instruments. Hancock plays piano and Ron Carter plays bass, as on the first recording.
- Try this
- Play the same four-chord plan with one sustained chord per bar. Keep count of the 16-bar choruses while the recording runs.
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Step 3 · Hear it on violin Now playing
Jean-Luc Ponty (with the George Duke Trio) 1969
The Jean-Luc Ponty Experience with the George Duke Trio
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- Listen for
- Violin plays the lead role over keyboards, bass and drums, and both Ponty and Duke get room to solo. The track runs 8:28, nearly three minutes longer than the 1964 original.
- Try this
- Play the four-chord plan and improvise a short line on each chord using only its chord tones (Fm7: F, A♭, C, E♭). If improvising is new, play just the root of each chord in a steady rhythm.
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Step 4 · Hear it played solo Now playing
Herbie Hancock (solo) 1974
Dedication
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- Listen for
- One player, with no band, on electric piano and synthesizer. The track lasts 13:55.
- Try this
- Play the four-chord plan alone on one instrument. Keep a steady pulse with one hand and add the chords with the other.
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Step 5 · Hear it with words Now playing
Mark Murphy 1975
“Canteloupe Island”, Mark Murphy Sings
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- Listen for
- A voice carries the tune and the words are Murphy's own. The track runs 5:35, close to the length of the 1964 original.
- Try this
- Hum or sing the melody you already know along with the recording. Then play only the root of each chord, four bars each: F, D♭, D, F.
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Step 6 · Hear a funk band remake Now playing
Herbie Hancock (Group) 1976
“Cantelope Island”, Secrets
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- Listen for
- A full band plays the tune: saxophone, guitar, electric bass, drums and percussion, with Hancock on keyboards. The groove blends reggae and jazz fusion.
- Try this
- Play the four-chord plan with short, clipped chords instead of long ones, and compare how the groove feels.
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Step 7 · Hear the 1964 band again Now playing
Herbie Hancock (Sextet, One Night With Blue Note) 1985
“Cantaloupe Island (Live at Town Hall, New York/1985)”, One Night With Blue Note Volume 1
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- Listen for
- Trumpet and tenor saxophone share the front line. The track runs 10:51, about twice the length of the studio take, so the same 16-bar chorus comes around many times.
- Try this
- Play the four-chord plan twice: first with only the root of each chord, then with full four-note chords.
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Step 8 · Hear it on guitar Now playing
Lionel Loueke 2019
HH
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- Listen for
- Guitar and voice are the only credited sounds. The track runs 4:03, shorter than the 5:33 original.
- Try this
- Play the four-chord plan on guitar or piano with one short chord per bar, leaving the rest of the bar silent so the groove has space.
More great versions
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Nat Adderley (Quintet) 1966
Sayin' Somethin'
Hancock plays piano on cornetist Nat Adderley's quintet version, recorded for Atlantic in 1966 with Joe Henderson in the group.
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El Chicano 1970
Viva Tirado
The Los Angeles band El Chicano recorded the tune for its 1970 album Viva Tirado, released on Kapp.
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Us3 (featuring Rahsaan and Gerard Presencer) 1992
“Cantaloop (Flip Fantasia)”, Hand On the Torch
The British jazz-rap group Us3 built this Blue Note single on a sample of Hancock's 1964 recording, and it reached No.
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Marc Copland (with Michael Brecker and John Abercrombie) 2003
Marc Copland And...
Marc Copland plays this 9:52 version on the 2003 album Marc Copland And..., with Michael Brecker, John Abercrombie, Drew Gress and Jochen Rueckert.
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Bob DeVos (with Gene Ludwig, organ) 2003
DeVos' Groove Guitar!
Guitarist Bob DeVos plays the tune on DeVos' Groove Guitar!, an album made with Hammond B-3 organist Gene Ludwig.
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Poncho Sanchez 2009
Psychedelic Blues
Poncho Sanchez recorded the tune for his 2009 album Psychedelic Blues.