Hancock made his first album as a leader, Takin’ Off for the Blue Note label. Although this release featured Hancock’s funk composition “Watermelon Man,” destined to become a crossover hit, the project gave only the barest hints of the flair and cogency the pianist would manifest with the Davis band, as well as on three superb later Blue Note recordings: Maiden Voyage, Empyrean Isles, and Speak Like a Child.
