Thrust

Performer: Herbie Hancock
Artist: Bennie Maupin; Paul Jackson; Mike Clarke; Bill Summers
Distributor: RED Distribution

Notes: Personnel: Herbie Hancock (Fender Rhodes piano, Clavinet, synthesizer); Bennie Maupin (soprano & tenor saxophones, saxello, alto flute, bass clarinet); Paul Jackson (electric bass); Mike Clarke (drums); Bill Summers (percussion). Producers: David Rubinson, Herbie Hancock. Reissue producer: Bob Belden. Recorded at Wally Heider Studios, San Francisco, California in 1974. Includes liner notes by Mike Clarke. Digitally remastered using 20-bit technology by Tom Ruff (Sony Music Studios, New York, New York). Despite its rather silly sci-fi cover, 1974's THRUST is a top-tier album by composer/keyboardist Herbie Hancock. On this excellent follow-up to the legendary HEADHUNTERS, Hancock lays into some seriously deep grooves on his Fender Rhodes, and is backed by many of the same musicians from HEADHUNTERS, including bassist Paul Jackson and woodwind master Bennie Maupin. The opening track, "Palm Grease," is a slick future-funk workout that breaks down into highly percussive passages, while "Actual Proof" coasts along on Hancock's bright melodies, which are enhanced by Jackson's burbling bass lines and Maupin's deft, breezy alto-flute playing. Of the four lengthy pieces that make up THRUST, "Butterfly" stands out as the disc's most reflective track, with Hancock taking his typically frenetic jazz fusion sound into surprisingly delicate and lyrical territory. While this outing will always be overshadowed by HEADHUNTERS, it remains one of Hancock's finest releases and is essential for fans of '70s funk-laden jazz. 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. ~ Richard S. Ginell

Rolling Stone (9/3/98, p.102) - 4 Stars (out of 5) - "...(drummer Mike) Clark and bassist Paul Jackson are a two-headed computer disgorging off-kilter but irresistibly fat-bottomed licks; Hancock's Fender Rhodes and Bennie Maupin's reeds...dance on the ceiling....a great album: brave, risky music making..."

One of the most open-eared and forward-thinking jazz musicians of his day, Hancock has, more than just about anyone else, consistently tried to broaden the music's horizons by mixing it with the most interesting elements of contemporary pop. Hancock has consistently pushed the envelope, from his earliest days with Miles Davis to his jazz-rock fusion of the early '70s and his early embrace of synthesizers and electronic instruments, his early-'80s experiments with hip-hop and sampling, or more recently, his acoustic piano reinterpretations of songs--the new standards, in his parlance--by everyone from Don Henley to Nirvana.

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