I'm sure I will love them, Rose.
Thank you.
I just picked up tickets to see Herbie Hancock in a couple weeks. I've never seen him. Have you ever heard his Headhunters album? That is one that has been one my playlist for decades.
Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
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 |
