Cocktail Notes || EP. 14 “Maiden Voyage", by Herbie Hancock || Airmail

The final song in this tribute to Herbie Hancock is “Maiden Voyage”. This is another song from his collection that I had not played up until this point. I have heard it many times, but never had the opportunity to try it with any ensemble. “Maiden Voyage” has a modal, harmonically-sparse chord progression that is written with the intent to allow the improviser to stretch out and be creative. The hardest part for me was maintaining the accompaniment pattern while playing the melody. In that regard, it was similar to “Cantaloupe Island”. I felt like that was the theme for the songs I played in the past month. It really tested my control of multiple voices, my precision in maintaining strict accompaniment rhythms, and my overall hand endurance.

The cocktail I chose to feature this week is the “Airmail”. It is a rum daiquiri topped with champagne. The “Airmail” was a refreshing cocktail that tasted exactly like it sounds: balanced sweetness from the rum, and a hint of lime tartness. The dry champagne brings welcome effervescence that makes it too easy to drink. Not much can be said about this drink. It was straightforward and delicious. Honestly, it tasted nostalgic. The cocktail tasted like the Vietnamese drink “Soda Chanh”, which is just a sparkling limeade that I frequently ordered when I went out to eat as a kid. From the looks of these cocktail specs, that’s pretty much what this cocktail is! Cheers!

[January 28, 2021]