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 sextet (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 bass lines 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.
(by Thom Jurek, All
Music Guide)
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