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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); José Chepitó 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, andQ (3/95, p.125) - 4 Stars - Excellent - "...A great purchase."
Mwandishi: The Complete Warner Bros. Recordings Music Review
Customer Mwandishi: The Complete Warner Bros. Recordings Reviews
Average Rating: (4 out of 5 stars)
Easy to Lose Yourself In for Long Stretches I find the one thread that links all of Herbie Hancock's diverse music, from the early Blue Note albums to the great Miles bands to this Warner Bros. era to VSOP to jazz-funk to snyth-disco, is the feeling that you can lose yourself completely in it. There's a broad sweep, an expansive texture; it's partly the way he voices chords on the piano, open and impressionistic, but there's more to it than that. On this collection, which includes all three of the albums he recorded for Warner Brothers in the early 70s (on two CDs), Herbie gets that expansive sound by playing with different arrangements of instruments and song forms. The music from the first album (Fat Albert Rotunda) is funky, danceable, just nice tight grooves and simple improv (from the earliest days of jazz-funk, mind you; nothing derivative here!). The next two albums, Mwandishi and Crossings, retain the groove in the bottom end (bass, drums, piano accompinament) but the songs spread out. Horns, reeds and piano play with snatches of melody for long, wistful stretches. In the hands of some bandleaders, this meandering might have less merit; but with Hancock in charge, that yearning, mystical quality is always there. While not all of these tracks are memorable for me, the texture of this entire collection is smooth and mesmerizing, start to finish. The price is right, and the packaging is good (great photos, interesting new essay by Blumenthal just for this repackaging). If you like Herbie's 60s stuff, if you also enjoy funky jazz or spacy jam sessions like In a Silent Way, you'll enjoy this. If you mostly think of Hancock as the Headhunters leader, you might be disappointed. Submitted by Keith (San Jose, CA) Was This Review Helpful? YesNo
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