Takin' Off is the debut album by jazz pianist Herbie Hancock released in 1962 by Blue Note Records. The album features veteran tenor saxophonist Dexter Gordon, trumpeter Freddie Hubbard, bassist Butch Warren and drummer Billy Higgins. The album is a creative example of music in the hard bop idiom. The bluesy track "Watermelon Man" made it to the Top 100 of the singles charts, and went on to become a jazz standard. Hancock released a funk arrangement of “Watermelon Man” on his 1973 album Head Hunters. Takin' Off was initially released on CD in 1996 and then again in remastered form in 2007 by Rudy Van Gelder.

Track listing

All compositions by Herbie Hancock. Side one

1. "Watermelon Man" – 7:09
2. "Three Bags Full" – 5:27
3. "Empty Pockets" – 6:09 Side two
4. "The Maze" – 6:45
5. "Driftin'" – 6:58
6. "Alone and I" – 6:25 Bonus tracks on CD reissue
7. "Watermelon Man" (alternate take) – 6:33
8. "Three Bags Full" (alternate take) – 5:31
9. "Empty Pockets" (alternate take) – 6:27

Personnel