Head hunters

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Head hunters
Herbie Hancock's studio album

Publication
(s)

October 13, 1973

admission

September 1973

Label (s) Columbia Records

Format (s)

LP , CD , MC , SACD

Genre (s)

Fusion , jazz-funk

Title (number)

4th

running time

41:34

occupation

production

Herbie Hancock , Dave Rubinson

Studio (s)

chronology
Sextant
(1972)
Head hunters Thrust
(1974)

Head Hunters is the twelfth studio album by jazz musician Herbie Hancock . It was released on October 13, 1973 on Columbia Records . The recordings for the album took place in September 1973 at Wally Heider Studios and Different Fur Studios in San Francisco , California . The album is a key release in Hancock's career and also a "controversial" work. It is the first jazz album ever to reach platinum status . On the album cover, Hancock's face is covered in the foreground by an electrical measuring instrument that is reminiscent of the shape of an African mask assigned to the Baoulé tribe of Ivory Coast .

background

Head Hunters followed a series of mostly experimental albums by the Hancock Sextet, Mwandishi (1970), Crossings (1971) and Sextant (1972), released at a time when Hancock was looking for new directions for his music. This sextet, "which was characterized by a particularly creative and inspired interplay", Hancock had to break up due to commercial problems.

In the liner notes to Head Hunters Hancock wrote:

“I began to feel that I had been spending so much time exploring the upper atmosphere of music and the more ethereal kind of far-out spacey stuff. Now there was this need to take some more of the earth and to feel a little more tethered; a connection to the earth ... I was beginning to feel that we (the sextet) were playing this heavy kind of music, and I was tired of everything being heavy. I wanted to play something lighter. "

“I felt like I had spent too much time exploring the upper atmosphere of the music and the more ethereal kind of super spacey stuff. Now there was this need to take a little more earth and feel a little more connected; a connection to earth ... I felt that we [the sextet] were playing this heavy kind of music and I was tired of all the heavy things. I wanted to play something easier. "

For the album, Hancock put together a new band, The Headhunters , of whose members only Bennie Maupin had already belonged to the previous sextet. Hancock played all the synthesizer pieces himself, while he was supported by Patrick Gleeson until then . He decided against a guitar and instead favored the use of the clavinet , which became one of the sound-defining instruments on the album.

The new band had a funk- oriented rhythm group, the album has a relaxed, funky groove that made the album accessible to a wider audience.

Structure of the album

Herbie Hancock (2006)

There are four tracks on the album, only Watermelon Man not written specifically for the album. "The structure of the album was ingenious."

The piece Chameleon acted as "funky opener" with an easily recognizable introduction (1:29), a funky bass line, the ARP Odyssey synthesizer was played on one. As the song title suggests, the sounds aren't always what they seem; Hancock also plays the “guitar” on the keyboards. This groovy motif with an ostinate drum kit, which also has a clave function, organizes the entire piece. A second theme emerges from it after 7:42 am, which is the first time improvised on the keyboards in a jazz-oriented way (until the piece returns to the original theme after a reminder riff (11:41 am) after another minute and a half). A solo by Hancock that can be heard in the first part of the piece exploited the possibilities of the synthesizer in a more rock-oriented way and "let it whistle, pitch, modulate."

Watermelon Man is a jazz standard from Hancock's hard-bop days that was released on his debut album Takin 'Off and became a hit in 1963; The piece was skilfully reworked by Hancock and Mason for Head Hunters and became “rhythmically complex” and “ African-esque ”: Initially, Bill Summers blows on a bottle and very skillfully imitates the Hindewhu single flutes of the Central African BaBenzélé pygmies ; with these repetitive sounds the piece ends again. At only 79 bpm , this version of the piece is actually too slow for a typical funk piece, but has a very strong emphasis on the first beat .

Miles Davis had a special influence on the two tracks on the back of the original LP : Sly is dedicated to the pioneer of funk music, Sly Stone , the band leader of Sly & the Family Stone . The last piece, Vein Melter, is a ballad in which Hancock and Maupin are in the foreground: Hancock mainly plays the Fender Rhodes electric piano, Maupin can mostly be heard on the bass clarinet.

Impact history

The album initially only sold slowly. Only after three months did it reach the Billboard 200 on January 12, 1974. Due to poor marketing policies, it took several months until the album finally reached its top position at number 13 on the American pop charts; 750,000 copies had been sold by the end of 1974, more than any other jazz album had ever achieved before. Ultimately, it was sold more than a million times in the United States.

The album in the criticism

source rating
Allmusic
Pitchfork
All about jazz
Jazzwise
Laut.de
Penguin Guide to Jazz

The album has been judged very differently by jazz critics: For some of the critics it is Hancock's “entry into his dubious commercial phase, which produced all sorts of secondary disco material up to the instrumental world hit Rock It (on Future Shock, 1983) . Others consider it a classic of the synthetic fusion sound of the early seventies, which also sold millions of copies. ”Lee Underwood said: “ In the worst case, it's commercial rubbish, at best it's as schizoid as Frank Zappa's offerings . ” Joachim-Ernst, too Berendt judged: "It is unbelievable that a man with the level of achievement and a musical wealth like Hancock should make such an album." The jazz historian Steven F. Pond pointed out that the album was actually not a success in the jazz field at first, but instead especially in Afro-American pop.

The American music magazine Rolling Stone selected the album in 2003 at number 498 of the 500 best albums of all time . It is no longer included in the updated list from 2012.

In 2007 the Library of Congress added it to the National Recording Registry , which collects "culturally, historically or aesthetically valuable recordings" from the 20th century. In 2009 she was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame .

Aaron Basiliere rated the album extremely positively at All About Jazz : “In addition, it ultimately changed the way people listened to music, it opens the door to new musical soundscapes and possibilities. For this reason alone, Head Hunters remains one of the most sought-after and influential jazz recordings ever made. "

Richard Cook and Brian Morton awarded the album the highest rating and saw it as a result of Miles Davis ' return to the music of the Sly Stones and James Brown . It is "an infectiously funky and thoroughly happy record"; only the final number Vein Melter suggests a certain melancholy; it is probably the highlight of the album and establishes the connection to a rather introverted music of the early 70s. The critics particularly emphasized the importance of Bennie Maupin, which was comparable to Wayne Shorters in Weather Report ; The decisive factor is not so much the solo contribution, but the way in which it creates selective moods. As a soloist, Hancock particularly shines in the quarter-hour Chameleon

The music magazine Jazzwise selected the album at number 17 in the list The 100 Jazz Albums That Shook the World . Stuart Nicholson wrote:

“It may have been jazz-rock after Bitches Brew , but after Head Hunters jazz-funk was the flavor de jour. Inspired by Sly and the Family Stone 's Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin) there's even a tribute track on it called Sly . The release a u-turn of spectacular proportions from the more esoteric direction mapped out on Crossings and Sextant to an album aimed squarely at the dance floor which is represented where it scored. Chameleon , the single taken from the album (also a biggie for Maynard Ferguson), sped up the Billboard chart to number 13 and made this one of the biggest selling jazz albums of all time ”

“Maybe it was jazz rock after Bitches Brew , but jazz funk was all the rage after Head Hunters . Inspired by Sly and the Family Stone's Thank you (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin) there is even an homage title called Sly . The release marks a U-turn of spectacular proportions from the more esoteric direction of crossings and sextant to an album that aims directly at the dance floor and where it scores. Chameleon , the single from the album (also a Biggie for Maynard Ferguson), pushed it to number 13 on the Billboard charts and made it one of the best-selling jazz albums of all time. "

- Stuart Nicholson

The German-language edition of Rolling Stone magazine selected the album in 2013 in the list of the 100 best jazz albums at number 37.

In the selection of the 100 best albums of the 1970s by Pitchfork Media is Head Hunters Place 68. The composition Chameleon reached number 128 of the 200 best songs of the decade.

The album is one of the 1001 albums You Must Hear Before You Die .

Track list

With the exception of Chameleon , all compositions are by Herbie Hancock .

page 1
  1. Chameleon (H. Hancock, P. Jackson, H. Mason, B. Maupin) - 15:41
  2. Watermelon Man - 6:29
Page 2
  1. Sly - 10:15
  2. Vein Melter - 9:09

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. a b c d e f Dombrowski Basis-Diskothek Jazz, p. 102f.
  2. See Scott H. Thompson, Liner Notes (1992) and Pond Head Hunters , pp. 155ff.
  3. ^ Karl Lippegau's Jazz Rock in Joachim-Ernst Berendt The Story of Jazz . Reinbek 1995, p. 233 and Pond Head Hunters , p. 162
  4. Herbie Hancock, Liner Notes (1996)
  5. The bass line was played twice, almost identically , due to the stereo effect. See Pond Head Hunters, p. 41
  6. Pond Head Hunters , p. 44
  7. ^ Pond Head Hunters , p. 79
  8. ^ Pond: Head Hunters, p. 80 f.
  9. See Scott H. Thompson Liner Notes (1992)
  10. ^ Pond: Head Hunters , p. 155 f.
  11. Review by Stephen Thomas Erlewine on allmusic.com (accessed June 13, 2018)
  12. Review by Jeremy D. Larson on pitchfork.com (accessed April 5, 2020)
  13. a b Review by Aaron Basiliere on allaboutjazz.com (accessed June 13, 2018)
  14. Review by James McCarthy on jazzwisemagazine.com (accessed June 13, 2018)
  15. Review by Theresa Locker on laut.de (accessed June 13, 2018)
  16. Penguin Guide to Jazz: Core Collection List on tomhull.com (accessed June 13, 2018)
  17. ^ Coda 143, quoted in Pond: Head Hunters , p. 156
  18. Jazz Forum 39, quoted from Pond: Head Hunters , p. 156
  19. ^ Pond: Head Hunters, p. 157
  20. Moreover, it ultimately changed the way people heard music by opening the door to new musical soundscapes and possibilities. For that fact alone, Head Hunters remains as one of the most sought after, influential jazz recordings ever created.
  21. Richard Cook & Brian Morton : The Penguin Guide to Jazz on CD 6th edition. ISBN 0-14-051521-6 , p. 658.
  22. The 100 Jazz Albums That Shook The World on jazzwisemagazine.com
  23. Rolling Stone: The 100 Best Jazz Albums . Retrieved November 16, 2016.
  24. The 100 Best Albums of the 1970s on pitchfork.com (accessed June 13, 2018)
  25. The 200 Best Songs of the 1970s on pitchfork.com (accessed December 21, 2018)