Herbie Hancock had by 1973 already experienced great success in music. His tune 'Watermelon Man' had been a hit single for Mongo Santamaria, and Hancock had played piano in Miles Davis' legendary second quintet. The early 1970s had not been quite as laudable, with his Mwandishi sextet finding little commercial achievement with a series of experimental, 'space music' records, such as 1972's Sextant.
Whilst Hancock experimented, his former leader Miles Davis had begun to introduce rock and funk to the jazz world, highlighted on Bitches Brew and A Tribute To Jack Johnson. Despite the use of electric instruments and the oft-repeated assertion of Sly and the Family Stone's influence, the records succeeded intellectually, but did not reproduce the dancefloor-filling effect of the Family Stone's work.
Chameleon
It was Sly and The Family Stone who Hancock references as the inspiration for Head Hunters in the liner notes of the CD reissue: 'Would I like to have a funky band that played the kind of funky music Sly...was playing? My response was, "Actually, yes."'
From the opening of the record, with the 15:41 cut 'Chameleon', a funk and rock influence could finally and unequivocally be heard on a jazz album. The ARP Odyssey-produced which kicks in to open the track recalls the funky underpinnings of James Brown's hits, and the dynamic bass work of Larry Graham in the Family Stone.
Simplicity is key to the beginning of the piece, the ARP followed by the drums for a few bars, before Hancock introduces the clavinet and Paul Jackson takes up a driving bass line. Multi-instrumentalist Bennie Maupin lastly appears with the first of several dynamic and ear-catching woodwind solos. Once each band member establishes themselves (percussionist Bill Summers shines elsewhere on the record) Hancock begins to explore the possibilities of his many synthesizers.
Whilst notable for its funky, danceable edge, 'Chameleon' also continues some of the Mwandishi sextant's work in the use of space within a piece. For great periods of the performance, the band settles into a groove, without any hurried need to improvise and throw out a plethora of sounds. When they do kick into gear, it adds to the effect, creating extra layers for Hancock to work with.
The mixture of experimentation, the revelry in leaving space in a composition, and the collection of a group of musicians who could seriously play, whilst keeping the music accessible, created a sound with 'Chameleon' which had previously been unexplored, mixing jazz with funk and popular sounds in a contemporary manner unheard since jazz was the popular American music.
Watermelon Man
The record continues this reinterpretation with a new take on '. The memorable opening of the track features Bill Summers harmonising with the aid of a beer bottle, one of the many interesting percussion choices he made throughout the album, which is enrichened by his African influences and introduction of an Agogo, a Cabasa, and a Gankoqui.
Hancock also adds his own unique imprint, with his clavinet work providing a more than ample substitute for the electric guitars which featured so prominently in the popular music of the early 1970s. The nuanced mellowness of the track recalls the original, with Bennie Maupin pushing it further with his athletic soloing.
Sly
The second side of the record beings with 'Sly', named after that great influence, but ironically the album's greatest disparity with that inspiration. A tight rhythm section holds the track together, but the soloing feels somewhat more extreme and elaborate than the effective simplicity of the two earlier tracks.
'Vein Melter', the closing track, follows the slow-building blueprint of 'Chameleon', and finds the band in a more relaxed mood all round, the slight influence of Miles Davis' In A Silent Way being found. Maupin tones down the extremes of 'Sly' and eases the track along, whilst Paul Jackson's bass and Harvey Mason's drums keep the tempo expertly. The atmospheric synthesizer work of Hancock's Mwandishi phase returns, but with a more recognisable beat to keep it grounded, and ease the album to its conclusion.
Head Hunters was for over twenty years the biggest-selling album in jazz history, and its influence was heard throughout the fusion movement and beyond, its tracks being sampled on numerous hip-hop records. Its mixture of funk, rock, electronic and jazz music blended in hitherto unheard ways, and gave Hancock the licence to follow his muse through numerous genres in the near-four decades since.
Karl Keely - Karl has been writing for several years now despite his youth, and has produced material for a variety of sources. His largest recent ...
