Mwandishi: The Complete Warner Bros. Recordings

Read About This Recording

Herbie Hancock has had a rather remarkable career, making his place in jazz and music history by always being open to new ideas, developments and styles. The two-CD set called Mwandishi features one of his most intriguing groups, a sextet that crossed many musical boundaries during 1969-72.

Born in 1940, Hancock was considered a prodigy on piano by the time he was 11, performing the first movement of a Mozart piano concerto with the Chicago Symphony. In 1961 he became a member of the Donald Byrd-Pepper Adams Quintet and within a year was recording as a leader for Blue Note. Hancock's initial album resulted in his hit Watermelon Man and his other Blue Note recordings of the 1960s featured him as an increasingly influential force on such numbers as Maiden Voyage, Cantaloupe Island and Speak Like a Child. A member of the Miles Davis Quintet during 1963-68, Hancock evolved from hard bop to the avant-garde and fusion, becoming one of the first major voices on the electric piano and synthesizer.

Since leaving Davis, Hancock has performed funky fusion with the Headhunters (making Chameleon famous), returned to acoustic jazz with his all-star V.S.O.P. group, played acoustic duets with Chick Corea, had an electronic pop hit with Rockit, teamed up with African musicians, collaborated with his fellow greats, and alternated between electronic music (including pop) and acoustic jazz. His album of Joni Mitchell compositions, River: The Joni Letters, received many awards.

Prior to the Headhunters, Hancock's sextet ranged from avant-garde jazz to early fusion with touches of funk. This two-CD set has all of the music from the three albums by his group for Warner Bros. The early version of the band included tenor-saxophonist Joe Henderson, trumpeter Johnny Coles and trombonist Garnett Brown (occasionally augmented by additional players) while the 1970-72 group featured trumpeter Eddie Henderson, trombonist Julian Priester and Bennie Maupin on reeds. Among the highpoints are Wiggle-Waggle, Tell Me a Bedroom Story, the 21-minute Wandering Spirit Song and the five-part Sleeping Giant. Patrick Gleeson on synthesizer makes a strong impact on the final three pieces.

Utterly fascinating music, Mwandishi perfectly documents an important period in the productive career of Herbie Hancock.

-Scott Yanow

Extended Article

When I told Miles Davis's manager that I wanted to form my own group, Herbie Hancock explained to a full house at Boston's Jazz Workshop in 1972, he asked me, 'Who do you plan to have in your trio?' When I told him that I planned to lead a sextet, he told me it was impossible for a group of that size to survive. Well, I kept a sextet together for three years - until last week, when we added a seventh member!

Contents

Wiggle-Waggle; Fat Mama; Tell Me a Bedtime Story; Oh! Oh! Here He Comes; Jessica; Fat Albert Rotunda; Lil' Brother; Ostinato (Suite for Angela); You'll Know When You Get There; Wandering Spirit Song; Sleeping Giant: Parts 1-5; Quasar; Water Torture.

Herbie Hancock, Piano; Bennie Maupin, Reeds/Percussion; Joe Henderson, Alto Flute/Tenor Sax; Joe Farrell, Alto Sax/Tenor Sax; Arthur Babe Clark, Baritone Sax; Johnny Coles, Eddie Henderson, Trumpets/Flugelhorns; Joe Newman, Ernie Royal, Trumpets; Ray Alonge, French Horn; Garnet Brown, Benny Powell, Trombones; Julian Priester, Trombone/Bass, Tenor, Alto Trombone/Percussion; Eric Gales, Billy Butler, Ron Montrose, Guitars; Buster Williams, Jerry Jermott, Basses; Albert Tootie Heath, Bernard Purdie, Drums; George Devens, Percussion; Leon Chancler, Billy Hart, Drums/Percussion; Jose Cepito Areas, Congas/Timbales; Patrick Gleason, Moog Synthesizer; Victor Pontoja, Congas; Candy Love, Sandra Stevens, Della Horne, Victoria Domagalski, Scott Beach, Vocals; Herbie Hancock Sextet.