When Herbie Hancock left Warner Bros. in 1971 after releasing three musically sound but critically and commercially underappreciated albums -- The Crossing, Mwandishi, and Fat Albert's Groove -- he was struggling. At odds with a jazz establishment that longed for his return to his Blue Note sound and a fierce consciousness struggle with free music and the full-on embrace of electricity since his tenure with Miles Davis, Hancock was clearly looking for a voice. Before diving into the commercial waters that would become Headhunters in 1973, Hancock and his tough group (including Billy Hart, Julian Priester, Dr. Eddie Henderson, Bennie Maupin, and Buster Williams) cut this gem for their new label, Columbia. Like its Warner predecessors, the album features a kind of post-modal, free impressionism while gracing the edges of funk. The three long tracks are exploratory investigations into the nature of how mode and interval can be boiled down into a minimal stew and then extrapolated upon for soloing and "riffing." In fact, in many cases, the interval becomes the riff, as is evidenced by "Rain Dance." The piece that revealed the true funk direction, however, was "Hidden Shadows," with its choppy basslines and heavy percussion -- aided by the inclusion of Dr. Patrick Gleeson and Buck Clarke. Dave Rubinson's production brought Hancock's piano more into line with the rhythm section, allowing for a unified front in the more abstract sections of these tunes. The true masterpiece on the album, though, is "Hornets," an eclectic, electric ride through both the dark modal ambience of Miles' In a Silent Way and post-Coltrane harmonic aesthetics. The groove is in place, but it gets turned inside out by Priester and Maupin on more than one occasion and Hancock just bleats with the synth in sections. Over 19 minutes in length, it can be brutally intense, but is more often than not stunningly beautiful. It provides a glimpse into the music that became Headhunters, but doesn't fully explain it, making this disc, like its Warner predecessors, true and welcome mysteries in Hancock's long career.
This is the definition of the era of jazz rock, with the last final offering from Herbie Hancock's Mwandishi band. The works and experience that Hancock received from Miles Davis is heard in the heavy elecro-swirl that is echoed in themes such as "Rain Dances" and bass-and-drum feel in "Hornets" futuristic-cosmo layered track.
More >
ksiglutz,If you liked Headhunters, Check out Sextant (1972), too, for more afro-funk rhythms w/Herbie.More importantly seek out the same musicians minus Herbie onThe Headhunters-Survival of the Fittest (1975). This space-funk-fusion slammer features the awesome breakbeat-vocal freakout, "God make me funky," which has been sampled byAlex Cortiz’s “Room 505” Biz Markie’s “Albee Square
More >
ksiglutz,If you liked Headhunters, Check out Sextant (1972), too, for more afro-funk rhythms w/Herbie.More importantly seek out the same musicians minus Herbie onThe Headhunters-Survival of the Fittest (1975). This space-funk-fusion slammer features the awesome breakbeat-vocal freakout, "God make me funky," which has been sampled byAlex Cortiz’s “Room 505” Biz Markie’s “Albee Square
More >
Funk on the edge of time. Funk that don't know anything but itself. Funk for the sake of being funk. Funk that doesn't even have to try, it just is. Outside of James Brown, the funkiest mofo around just might be Herbie Hancock. In the far down the line future, when we're all as on the edge of our own world existence as i currently am, this will be the soundtrack. I guarantee it, Clyde...
More >
This is the definition of the era of jazz rock, with the last final offering from Herbie Hancock's Mwandishi band. The works and experience that Hancock received from Miles Davis is heard in the heavy elecro-swirl that is echoed in themes such as "Rain Dances" and bass-and-drum feel in "Hornets" futuristic-cosmo layered track.
More >
Click to purchase…
© 2006-2009 Mog Inc. All Rights Reserved
 "Sextant")
