Herbie Hancock: Thrust (1974)

The follow-up to the breakthrough Headhunters album was virtually as good as its wildly successful predecessor: an earthy, funky, yet often harmonically and rhythmically sophisticated tour de force. There is only one change in the Headhunters lineup -- swapping drummer Harvey Mason for Mike Clark -- and the switch results in grooves that are even more complex. Hancock continues to reach into the rapidly changing high-tech world for new sounds, most notably the metallic sheen of the then-new ARP string synthesizer which was already becoming a staple item on pop and jazz-rock records.

Again, there are only four long tracks, three of which ("Palm Grease," "Actual Proof," "Spank-A-Lee") concentrate on the funk, with plenty of Hancock's wah-wah clavinet, synthesizer textures and effects, and electric piano ruminations that still venture beyond the outer limits of post-bop. The change-of-pace is one of Hancock's loveliest electric pieces, "Butterfly," a match for any tune he's written before or since, with shimmering synth textures and Bennie Maupin soaring on soprano (Hancock would re-record it 20 years later on Dis Is Da Drum, but this is the one to hear). This supertight jazz-funk quintet album still sounds invigorating a quarter of a century later.

Tracklist:
01. Palm Grease
02. Actual Proof
03. Butterfly
04. Spank-A-Lee
Thrust
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Herbie Hancock: Crossings (1972/2001)

With the frenzied knocking of what sounds like a clock shop gone berserk, Crossings takes the Herbie Hancock Sextet even further into the electric avant-garde, creating its own idiom. Now, however, the sextet has become a septet with the addition of Dr. Patrick Gleeson on Moog synthesizer, whose electronic decorations, pitchless and not, give the band an even spacier edge. Again, there are only three tracks — the centerpiece being Hancock's multi-faceted, open-structured suite in five parts called "Sleeping Giant." Nearly 25 minutes long yet amazingly cohesive, "Sleeping Giant" gathers a lot of its strength from a series of funky grooves — the most potent of which explodes at the tail-end of Part Two — and Hancock's on-edge Fender Rhodes electric piano solos anticipate his funk adventures later in the '70s. Bennie Maupin's "Quasar" pushes the session into extraterrestrial territory, dominated by Gleeson's wild Moog effects and trumpeter Eddie Henderson's patented fluttering air trumpet. Even stranger is Maupin's "Water Torture," which saunters along freely with splashes of color from Hancock's spooky Mellotron and fuzz-wah-pedaled Fender Rhodes piano, Gleeson's electronics, and a quintet of voices. Still a challenging sonic experience, this music (which can be heard on Warners' Mwandishi two-CD set) has yet to find its audience, though the electronica-minded youth ought to find it dazzling.

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Harvey Mason: Marching in the Street (1975)

Harvey Mason is considered one of the finest drummer on the soul and jazz scene today. In 1975, after his work with Herbie Hancock's band, the Headhunters, he sign to Arista Records as a solo artist and record this instrumental fusion to vocal orientated dance music LP. Personnel: Maxine Willard Waters (vocals), Randy Crawford (vocals), Wah Wah Watson (guitar), Dave Grusin (keyboards), Paul Jackson (bass), Hubert Laws (flute), Bobby Bryant (trumpet), Herbie Hancock (keyboards), Ernie Watts (saxophone), Jim Gilstrap (vocals), Bennie Maupin (saxophone), Lee Ritenour (guitar) and many others.

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Marching in the Street (RS) / Marching in the Street (MU) @ 320K

Herbie Hancock: Headhunters (1973) [remastered 1997]

Keyboardist Herbie Hancock's remarkable career took a surprising turn with this funk album--one of the first jazz albums to be certified gold. Hancock's already-storied career had included an extended tenure with Miles Davis as a member of both the classic quintet of the '60s and the trumpeter's groundbreaking electric dates. As a leader, the pianist had followed a similar course, cutting both outstanding acoustic dates (Maiden Voyage, Empyrean Isles) and experimental electric sessions (Sextant, Crossings).

Head Hunters, however, was something different: a stripped-down date featuring reedman Bennie Maupin as the only horn player, and a funk-oriented rhythm section made up of Paul Jackson, Harvey Mason, and Bill Summers. Hancock traded in his sophisticated piano performances and complex compositions for simple melodies, slow-burn funk grooves, and light electric keyboard splashes. The results, particularly on the tracks "Chameleon" and "Watermelon Man," had a profound impact on other musicians, although critics charged Hancock with playing to the galleries. But the album has stood the test of time--something neither the wealth of Hancock's imitators nor his own subsequent albums in this vein have been able to do. --Fred Goodman

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Headhunters - Part 1 - Part 2 (HF) / Part 1 - Part 2 (RS) flac

Herbie Hancock: Sextant (1973)

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.

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Sextant (RS) / Sextant (MU) / Sextant (HF) @ 320K [scans]

Herbie Hancock and Headhunters: The Return of the Headhunters (1998)

After a two-decade long hiatus, Herbie Hancock's Headhunters returned to action in 1998 with their funk groove pretty much intact, allowing for some technological and stylistic updating. The core of the band — the too-long-neglected Bennie Maupin (saxes, bass clarinet), Paul Jackson (bass), Bill Summers (percussion), and the group's second drummer Mike Clark — still has the complex funk telepathic interplay down pat, though occasionally the rhythms are simplified for contemporary audiences. Hancock himself only appears on four tracks, where he tries to comp and stomp out on latter-day digital instruments (alas, he doesn't quite generate the same super funky feeling that he once could on analog clavinets, Fender Rhodes pianos, and ARP synths). Billy Childs fills the keyboard chair in more genteel fashion on the other six tracks, with occasional help from Patrice Rushen, Mark Goodman, and Darrell Smith. The main hangup here is that the revived Headhunters didn't come up with much memorable material, the strongest tracks being the back-to-1974 retro workout "Funk Hunter," and the rhythmically tricky "Kwanzaa," and "Watch Your Back," which features the obligatory rap honoring elder statesmen of music (strange how reverential the nominally rebellious younger set often can be).

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The Return / Part 1 / Part 2 (RS) Part 1 / Part 2 (MU) @ 320K

Headhunters: Evolution Revolution (2003)

Three decades ago, Herbie Hancock stretched the limits of blending jazz with rock, R&B/funk, and a bit of avant-garde on the groundbreaking million selling album Headhunters. Members of that group have reassembled for this stunning 16-track updated brew where they add heavy doses of straight-ahead be-bop ("Take No Prizzonerz," "Woody Shaw"), blues ("Everything," "Fonkyfried"), African music ("Yekola," "Evolution Revolution"), and even smooth jazz ("Headhunting," "Martell on the Rocks") to the '70s hybrid. The keyboard player who originally put percussionist Bill Summers, drummer Mike Clark, and bassist Paul Jackson together wasn't available so the trio did what any 21st century scientists of sound would do, they got Hancock clones--an electric version (Ronald Markham) and an acoustic version (Victor Atkins). The Hancock stamp is all over the fusion tunes, especially "Stick It," featuring an electrified trumpet part from Nicholas Payton that sounds like another Hancock alum, Eddie Henderson. Other guests with Hancock ties include guitarist Wah-Wah Watson, original Headhunters reed man Bennie Maupin, and drummer Harvey Mason. Mason went on to become an original member of the group Fourplay, and Summers, the only musician on every track on this album, went on to help form Los Hombres Calientes. --Mark Ruffin

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Evolution Revolution Part 1 / Part 2 (RS) Part 1 / Part 2 (MU) @ 320K

Lenny White: Edge (1999)

A versatile drummer, Lenny White is still best-known for being part of Chick Corea's Return To Forever in the 1970's. White was self-taught on drums and he largely started his career on top, playing regularly with Jackie McLean (1968) and recording "Bitches Brew" with Miles Davis in 1969. White was soon working with some of the who's who of jazz including Freddie Hubbard, Joe Henderson, Woody Shaw, Gato Barbieri, Gil Evans, Stanley Clarke and Stan Getz among others. As a member of Return To Forever during 1973-76, White gained a strong reputation as one of the top fusion drummers, but he was always versatile enough to play in many settings. After the breakup of RTF, Lenny White headed several fusion projects but none of the recordings (for Nemperor and Elektra) have dated well at all, emphasizing commercial funk. However his work with the Echoes Of An Era and Griffith Park all-star groups were been more successful and he has been a valuable sideman for a wide variety of projects.
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Edge