Mwandishi: The Complete Warner Bros. Recordings

Performer: Herbie Hancock
Artist: Bennie Maupin; Joe Farrell; Joe Henderson; Eddie Henderson; Johnny Coles; Julian Priester; Billy Hart; Bernard Burdie
Distributor: WEA (Distributor)

Notes: MWANDIDHI: THE COMPLETE WARNER BROS. RECORDINGS includes the albums FAT ALBERT ROTUNDA (1970), MWANDISHI (1971), and CROSSINGS (1972). Personnel includes: Herbie Hancock (acoustic, electric & Fender Rhodes pianos, mellotron, percussion); Candy Love, Sandra Stevens (vocals); Benny Maupin (soprano saxophone, piccolo, alto flute, bass clarinet, percussion); Joe Farrell (alto & tenor saxophones); Joe Henderson (tenor saxophone, alto flute); Eddie Henderson (trumpet, flugelhorn, percussion); Johnny Coles (trumpet, flugelhorn); Joe Newman (trumpet); Ray Alonge (French horn); Julian Priester (alto, tenor & bass trombones, percussion); Garnett Brown (trombone); Ron Montrose, Eric Gale (guitar); Buster Williams (acoustic & electric basses, percussion); Jerry Jermott (electric bass); Billy Hart (drums, percussion); Albert "Tootie" Heath, Bernard Purdie (drums). Producer: Herbie Hancock, David Rubinson. Compilation producer: Matt Pierson. Engineers: Rudy Van Gelder, Fred Catero, Patrick Gleason. Principally recorded at the Van Gelder Studio, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey between October 4 and December 8, 1969; Wally Heider Recording Studios, San Francisco, California on December 31, 1970; Pacific Recording Studios, San Mateo, California from February 15-17, 1972; Different Fur Trading Company, San Francisco, California. Includes liner notes by Bob Blumenthal. Digitally remastered by Lee Herschberg. Personnel: Herbie Hancock (piano, electric piano, Mellotron, percussion); Eric Gale, Ronnie Montrose, Billy Butler (guitar); Julian Priester (tamboura, trombone, tenor trombone, percussion); Bennie Maupin (alto flute, piccolo, bass clarinet, soprano saxophone, percussion); Joe Henderson (alto flute, tenor saxophone); Joe Farrell (alto saxophone); Arthur Clarke (baritone saxophone); Eddie Henderson (trumpet, flugelhorn, percussion); Johnny Coles (trumpet, flugelhorn); Ernie Royal, Joe Newman (trumpet); Ray Alonge (French horn); Garnett Brown, Benny Powell (trombone); Patrick Gleeson (Moog synthesizer); Buster Williams (acoustic bass, electric bass, percussion); Gerald Jemmott (electric bass); Leon "Ndugu" Chancler, Billy Hart (drums, percussion); Albert "Tootie" Heath, Bernard "Pretty" Purdie (drums); Jos� Chepit� Areas (congas, timbales); Victor Pontoja (congas). Liner Note Author: Bob Blumenthal. Recording information: Different Fur Trading Company, San Franciso, CA (10/04/1969-02/17/1972); Pacific Recording Studios, San Mateo, CA (10/04/1969-02/17/1972); Van Gelder Recording Studios, Englewood Clifs, NJ (10/04/1969-02/17/1972); Wally Heider Recording Studios, San Franciso, CA (10/04/1969-02/17/1972). Unknown Contributor Role: Herbie Hancock. Arranger: Herbie Hancock. While no one can argue that Herbie Hancock's early Blue Note recordings aren't milestones in his career and some are as enduring as any other jazzman's in history, the mostly overlooked Warner Bros. period remains one of his most adventurous, creatively satisfying, and amazingly enduring. The three albums presented here all offer wildly different sides of Hancock after he left Miles Davis. All of them are presented here in their entirety, with copious notes by Bob Blumenthal, who interviewed Hancock for the package. The set begins with the wildly joyous, deep, funky groove of Fat Albert's Groove, the music Hancock recorded for Bill Cosby's Saturday morning cartoon show. These seven tracks, with their three-horn front line (originated for Hancock on his final Blue Note album, Speak Like a Child) of Joe Henderson on flute and tenor, Johnny Coles' trumpet, and Garnett Brown's trombone, are singing, lyrical funk grooves that predated Headhunters by a few years and swung way harder by sticking back and lying in the groove as much as possible. Hancock's electric piano teamed with Tootie Heath and Buster Williams to form an unbeatable, gutsy, and stomping rhythm section. The band was fleshed out on a couple of tracks by additional horns, additional drums and percussion, and electric guitars. After such a melodic entry, Warners' executives must have been shocked when Hancock brought them the abstract funkified impressionism of Mwandishi. Comprised of three long tracks, the album showcased Hancock's brief preoccupation with free jazz improvisation and long intervallic inventions on modal frames. Hancock had kept only Buster Williams in the sextet that recorded both Mwandishi and Crossings. He added Billy Hart, Eddie Henderson, Julian Priester, and Bennie Maupin to fill out his newfound electric preoccupation. This same band with the addition of a few sidemen recorded the completely gone Crossings. This record sank from the market like a stone, with its commercial appeal only found a year later when Hancock moved to Columbia to issue first Sextant and then Headhunters. The music on Crossings is a blend of street music and Sun Ra; it's a completely proletarian approach to out jazz that keeps it close to the street while fully exploring the varying tonal and rhythmic changes that were going on in jazz at the time. Again, only three tracks appear, though the first is a long, brazen expressionistic suite ("Sleeping Giant") that makes the more abstract moments on "Water Torture" possible for listeners to find themselves in. This double-CD package is carried only sporadically by record shops, and as inexpensive imports the three original albums can be found separately. But why would anyone want to? The musical evolution present here in the composer, arranger, and pianist is absolutely the most visionary and large-scale in his career. Where the music misses, it does so bravely, when it's on, it goes for the jugular and grooves right on in. ~ Thom Jurek With the formation of his great electric sextet, Herbie Hancock's music took off into outer and inner space, starting with the landmark Mwandishi album recorded in a single session on New Year's Eve. Ever the gadgeteer, Herbie plays with electronic effects devices -- reverb units, stereo tremelo, and Echoplex -- which all lead his music into spacier, open-ended directions very much influenced by Miles Davis' electric experiments, rendering it from post-bop conventions. There are just three tracks: the insistent 15/4-meter Afro-electric-funk workout "Ostinato (Suite for Angela)," the inquisitive "You'll Know When You Get There" with its ethereal Hancock voicings, and trombonist Julian Priester's "Silent Way"-influenced "Wandering Spirit Song," which eventually dips into tumultuous free form. Eddie Henderson emerges as a major trumpet soloist here, probing, jabbing, soliloquizing; Bennie Maupin comes over from Lee Morgan's group to add his ominous bass clarinet and thoughtful alto flute; and Buster Williams' bass and Billy Hart's flexible drums propel the rhythm section. Santana's Jos� Chepit� Areas and Leon "Ndugu" Chancler also add funky percussive reinforcement to "Ostinato," along with guitarist Ron Montrose. The group's collective empathy is remarkable, and Hancock had only begun to probe the outer limits with this extraordinary music. ~ Richard S. Ginell While no one can argue that Herbie Hancock's early Blue Note recordings aren't milestones in his career and some are as enduring as any other jazzman's in history, the mostly overlooked Warner Bros. period remains one of his most adventurous, creatively satisfying, and amazingly enduring. The three albums presented here all offer wildly different sides of Hancock after he left Miles Davis. All of them are presented here in their entirety, with copious notes by Bob Blumenthal, who interviewed Hancock for the package. The set begins with the wildly joyous, deep, funky groove of Fat Albert's Groove, the music Hancock recorded for Bill Cosby's Saturday morning cartoon show. These seven tracks, with their three-horn front line (originated for Hancock on his final Blue Note album, Speak Like a Child) of Joe Henderson on flute and tenor, Johnny Coles' trumpet, and Garnett Brown's trombone, are singing, lyrical funk grooves that predated Headhunters by a few years and swung way harder by sticking back and lying in the groove as much as possible. Hancock's electric piano teamed with Tootie Heath and Buster Williams to form an unbeatable, gutsy, and stomping rhythm section. The band was fleshed out on a couple of tracks by additional horns, additional drums and percussion, and electric guitars. After such a melodic entry, Warners' executives must have been shocked when Hancock brought them the abstract funkified impressionism of Mwandishi. Comprised of three long tracks, the album showcased Hancock's brief preoccupation with free jazz improvisation and long intervallic inventions on modal frames. Hancock had kept only Buster Williams in the sextet that recorded both Mwandishi and Crossings. He added Billy Hart, Eddie Henderson, Julian Priester, and Bennie Maupin to fill out his newfound electric preoccupation. This same band with the addition of a few sidemen recorded the completely gone Crossings. This record sank from the market like a stone, with its commercial appeal only found a year later when Hancock moved to Columbia to issue first Sextant and then Headhunters. The music on Crossings is a blend of street music and Sun Ra; it's a completely proletarian approach to out jazz that keeps it close to the street while fully exploring the varying tonal and rhythmic changes that were going on in jazz at the time. Again, only three tracks appear, though the first is a long, brazen expressionistic suite ("Sleeping Giant") that makes the more abstract moments on "Water Torture" possible for listeners to find themselves in. This double-CD package is carried only sporadically by record shops, and as inexpensive imports the three original albums can be found separately. But why would anyone want to? The musical evolution present here in the composer, arranger, and pianist is absolutely the most visionary and large-scale in his career. Where the music misses, it does so bravely, when it's on, it goes for the jugular and grooves right on in. ~ Thom Jurek

Q (3/95, p.125) - 4 Stars - Excellent - "...A great purchase." Vibe (3/95, p.106) - "...His writing...is eerie, liquid, yet swinging in a major way....The album points to the stars while paying homage to the Middle Passage--trumpeter Eddie Henderson contributes exquisitely to the mood with several spacey-ass solos that make more earthbound conceptions of the horn sound almost morbid in comparison..."

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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