Herbie Hancock - Head Hunters
|
List Price: Our Price: $4.76 You Save: $3.19 (40%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Buy Used: from $2.78 (click here) Category: Music CD See more new music releases 
|
|---|
Buy this Music CD at online store in your country
Canadian Music Store
Canadian Music Store
Free Music Notes for Head Hunters
Free Music Review: a sonic trip to the funkosphere
Hit: 5 Stars
I'll leave the musical historiography to better sources than myself--this review is for the uninitiated. Herbie Hancock is one of the most talented, and innovative, popular jazz musicians of the past 40 years. Like Miles Davis, sometimes he achieved a sublime perfection, and sometimes the results were disappointing.
"Headhunters" is a classic "jazz-funk" album, and each of the four cuts is unique and strong on its own. "Chameleon" and "Sly" feature hypnotically repetitive percussion and bass riffs, over which keyboard and sax are overlaid. "Vein Melter" also runs on one drum and bass riff, this time with relaxed, stretched out keyboard, bass clarinet and sax solos making a counterpoint to the tight, repetitive snare drum. Heroin, anyone?
Without doubt, the highlight of "Headhunters" is "Chameleon." This 15 minute opus is perhaps the greatest funk recording ever made. It begins simply enough, with one repeated bass (keyboard) and drum line. Add a guitar riff. Then more keyboard. Now sax, "clavinet" and yet more keyboards. The band develops layer upon layer of hypnotic, syncopated funk, with Herbie pushing the energy higher and higher with searing hot keyboard solos. It's studio work, of course, but the interplay between the band makes it feel completely live. It is perfectly polished, but without the sterility that afflicts most jazz and fusion these days. "Chameleon" is distilled funk of the most mind expanding type.
Free Music Review: A Fusion Explosion
Hit: 5 Stars
Despite the fact that jazz purists and critics have labeled him a sell out, Herbie Hancock has proven himself to be a classic artist in the pantheon of jazz as well as funk with this stellar release. With a strong and steadfast opener called "Chameleon", Bassist Paul Jackson sets the foundation with his famous and unrivaled chromatic bass line. Added is Herbie's wah-induced keyboards, and then an all out funk jam is unleashed upon the listener's ears. The highlight of this song in my opinion is the modal section where the bass line changes and you can here some moody improvisation. The most popular track however, would have to be a groovy new version of Hancock's famous "Watermelon Man" with great percussion by Bill Summers. "Sly" follows with great pulsing rhythms, fabulous drum work by Harvey Mason, and a soaring Soprano sax by Maupin. The funk turns to an ethereal, experimental jam later with my personal favorite "Vein Melter". Sonic textures from Herbie's keyboards are layered with Maupin's subtle but sensual clarinet line. A great closing number that will leave you satisfied. Though some may not compare it to great works from Miles Davis or John Coltrane, Herbie Hancock's Headhunters will remain my favorite jazz album for years to come. It's influence has penetrated deep within modern hip-hop as well as jazz itself.Free Music Review: To The Head Of The Class
Hit: 5 Stars
It was all about Sly Stone.
Herbie Hancock - in a December 1996 essay included in the liner notes to Head Hunters - writes, "I started thinking about Sly Stone and how much I loved his music and how funky 'Thank You For Letting Me Be Myself' is. I was hearing that song over and over again."
From that inspiration from one artist to another came this jazz-funk classic. Clean production, ample room for Bennie Maupin (reeds), Harvey Mason (drums) and Bill Summers (percussion) to stretch their solos, with bassist Paul Jackson pushing the rhythm and Hancock pulling down unique electronic sounds in the Fall 1973 recording sessions that produced this extraordinary album.
Hancock is nothing less than superb on the classic Chameleon and Sly, the band's tribute to Sly Stone. The studio tricks on Chameleon are a special treat. Vein Melter covers a more jazzy terrain, while Watermelon Man produces some hot work from Mason and Summers.
The 1970s brought a revolution of musical vision, with Head Hunters near the top of the pack in busting down the finite walls of sound and delivering infinite possibilities through a new generation of musicians who had jazz in their hearts and funk running through their veins.
Free Music Review: A Funk classic
Hit: 5 Stars
This 70's recording, while one of the best selling "jazz" albums of all time, should be regarded not so much a classic of jazz, but as funk. Like all great funk recordings (and all great music, in my opinion), this CD definitely does have some elements of jazz on its various tracks, but this recording shines when it allows its groovier side to dominate. "Chameleon" is the blistering opening track. It starts out with a brusing bassline, lays on a thick beat, and spices it a bit with some intriguing clavinet work. The entire song is frentic and multitempoed, interspersing its rather danceable grooves with brezzy jazz interludes. "Watermelon Man" is the polar opposite of the opening track. Whereas "Chameleon" was funk tinged with jazz, this remake of one of HH's earlier works is evenly paced fusion with a bit of funk thrown in. It is every bit as impressive as "Chameleon." "Sly" is a rather standard jazz track when taken in context of the rest of the CD, yet it succeeds brilliantly. It features a blistering sax solo that has to be heard to be believed, and "Vein Melter," a smooth, mellow groove, closes out the set.Free Music Review: What is most astounding about this album...
Hit: 5 Stars
is that when Herbie Hancock set out to write it he had something in mind. That something was to create a landmark fusion jazz/funk album. Now think about that. How many authors sit down to write a "landmark novel" and DO IT?! How many paniters sit down and decide to create THE piece of art in their given genre and accomplish the task? Well, that is EXACTLY what Herbie Hancock did! Headhunters contains some of the most universally recognisable vamps from the entire fusion jazz genre. Most people have heard Chameleon and Watermelon Man, even if they don't actually know the names of the songs. The real surprises for the non-rabid jazz fan are tracks 3 and 4, Vein Melter and Sly. I will be perfectly frank, I bought this album for Chameleon and Watermelon Man only. Of course, I always intended to listen to the entire album after I bought it but only expected to revisit tracks 1 and 2 on a regular basis after I got it. That's not what happened at all. These last two tracks are just as strong as their more famous predecessors, so if you are new to jazz this is a very solid album overall and a great introduction to fusion.