The Intrepid Fox

Joe Henderson (tenor sax), Freddie Hubbard (trumpet), Herbie Hancock (electric piano), Ron Carter (bass) and Lenny White (drums). From the album Red Clay (1970).

The fox is a mammal divided into 27 species. It lives between 5 and 7 years, is smaller than wolves and jackals and don’t let itselsf be domesticated. It’s a herd animal that hunts at night and during the day remains hidden among the bushes and in its burrows. It lives in coniferous forests, tundra, taiga, meadows, coastal areas and mountainous plateaus. It appears in mythology and in stories symbolizing intelligence and cunning.

The fox is omnivorous; it feeds on insects, other mammals offspring, mice, bird eggs, hares and rabbits, chickens and berries and fruits. It can be monogamous or polygamous, mating takes place in January or February and the young are born in April or May. The litters are from 3 to 8 puppies, weaning takes place towards the ninth week, they leave the burrow at 7 or 10 weeks and reach the sexual maturity at 9 or 10 months.

This is an intense theme composed over a quote from John Coltrane’s “Cousin Mary” and belongs to the hard bop style. White makes an introduction and then Carter and Hancock join in followed by Henderson and Hubbard to expose the theme in unison. The melody is enthusiastic and vigorous at medium-fast tempo. The first one to enter is Hubbard doing a well-built solo and adding acrobatics in a timely manner and playing with dexterity and clarity. Shorter comes in with an eccentric speech full of ups and downs and unusual and complicated passages. Next Hancock arrives with a audacious  and effusive melodic line playing a series of remarkable arpeggios, and at the end the group re-exposes the theme.