Herbie Hancock – Mwandishi – The Complete Warner Bros. Recordings (1994/2016) [HDTracks FLAC 24bit/192kHz]

None can argue that Herbie Hancock’s Blue Note recordings are mostly jazz milestones, the somewhat overlooked Warner Bros. period remains one of his most creatively adventurous, and enduring. The three albums presented here all offer different sides of Hancock after he left Miles Davis. All 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 his emerging Mwandishi band on its selftitled offering. Comprised of three long tracks, the album showcased Hancock’s use of free jazz and long intervallic inventions on modal frames. Only Buster Williams remained from the previous set. The rest of the sextet includes Billy Hart, Eddie Henderson, Julian Priester, and Bennie Maupin. also This same band with the addition of a few sidemen recorded the Crossings with the addition of synthesizer player Patrick Gleeson. This final record sank from the market like a stone; it found some success a year later, after Hancock had moved to Columbia, to issue Sextant and then Headhunters. Crossings melds street music, modal jazz and the expansive sonic approach of Sun Ra fom this same period; it’s approach keeps jazz close to the street while fully exploring the varying tonal and rhythmic changes that were going on post-Coltrane. Again, only three tracks appear, though the first is a long, brazen expressionistic suite (“Sleeping Giant”). The musical evolution present in this double set reveals the composer, arranger, and pianist as a large scale visionary.

Tracklist:
1 Wiggle-Waggle 05:51
2 Fat Mama 03:49
3 Tell Me A Bedtime Story 05:02
4 Oh! Oh! Here He Comes 04:07
5 Jessica 04:12
6 Fat Albert Rotunda 06:28
7 Lil’ Brother 04:24
8 Ostinato (Suite For Angela) 13:11
9 You’ll Know When You Get There 10:23
10 Wandering Spirit Song 21:29
11 Sleeping Giant, Pts. 1-5 24:45
12 Quasar 07:22
13 Water Torture 13:54

Recorded: #1-7: October 4 and 16, November 26 and December 8, 1969 at Van Gelder Recording Studios, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey; #8-10: December 31, 1970 at Wally Heider Recording Studios, San Francisco, California; #11-13: February 15-17, 1972 at Pacific Recording Studios, San Mateo, California; Moog and Mellotron recorded at Different Fur Trading Company, San Francisco, California

Personnel:
Herbie Hancock – Mellotron, Percussion, Piano, Piano (Electric)
Ray Alonge – French Horn
José Chepitó Areas – Congas, Timbales
Scott Beach, Victor Domagalski, Delta Horne, Candy Love, Sandra Stevens – Voices
Garnett Brown, Benny Powell – Trombone
Billy Butler, Ronnie Montrose, Eric Gale – Guitar
Leon “Ndugu” Chancler, Billy Hart – Drums, Percussion
Arthur “Babe” Clarke – Sax (Baritone)
Johnny Coles – Flugelhorn, Trumpet
Joe Farrell – Sax (Alto)
Patrick Gleeson – Moog Synthesizer
Albert “Tootie” Heath, Bernard “Pretty” Purdie – Drums
Eddie Henderson – Flugelhorn, Percussion, Trumpet
Joe Henderson – Flute (Alto), Sax (Tenor)
Gerald Jemmott – Bass (Electric)
Bennie Maupin – Clarinet (Bass), Flute (Alto), Percussion, Piccolo, Sax (Soprano)
Joe Newman, Ernie Royal – Trumpet
Victor Pontoja – Congas
Julian Priester – Percussion, Tamboura, Trombone, Trombone (Tenor)
Rudy Van Gelder – Engineer
Buster Williams – Bass (Acoustic), Bass (Electric), Percussion