A must have for fans of classic Hard Bop mainstream jazz, Herbie Hancock’s Jazz To Funk, is a 2CD set featuring a pair of early sessions by the music legend. Hancock is a true icon of modern music.
Throughout his explorations, he has transcended limitations and genres while maintaining his unmistakable voice. With an illustrious career spanning five decades and 14 Grammy Awards, there are few artists in the music industry who have had more influence on acoustic and electronic jazz and R&B than Herbie Hancock.
As the immortal Miles Davis said in his autobiography: “Herbie was the step after Bud Powell and Thelonious Monk, and I haven’t heard anybody yet who has come after him.”
Hancock started his career with trumpeter Donald Byrd’s group. He shortly thereafter joined the Miles Davis Quintet, where he helped to redefine the role of a jazz rhythm section and was one of the primary architects of the post-bop sound.
This set features the cream of 60s jazz superstars: Jack DeJohnette, Jim Hall, Joe Henderson, Joe Newman, Freddie Hubbard, Ron Carter, Phil Woods, Don Cherry, Albert Heath and Jimmy Heath.
The first disc, previously released under drummer Albert “Tootie” Heath’s leadership as Kawaida (and later under Hancock’s name as Baraka), features five raw, improvisation-oriented cuts from a rare 1969 session.
Graham L. Flanagan, writing for All About Jazz, observes: “Interesting, African-themed work from all the participants pervades throughout, perhaps most notably by flutist Billy Bonner, who gets plenty of opportunities to stretch out, especially on Dunia, which features an unusual spoken-word component.”
Disc two is a selection of sizzling outtakes from the soundtrack session for Michelangelo Antonioni’s 1966 film Blow Up and is a must for Hancock completists. Now in his 80s, Hancock is still touring and entertaining audiences around the globe.
TRACKS
Disc 1:
Maulana
Baraka/Kamli
Kawanda
Dunia
Disc 2:
Witch Fire
Jammin’ With Herbie
Herbie’s Blues
Rock Your Soul
Hot Piano
Smoochie
Live and Awake
Night Walker
Afro Boogie
Far Out
Hot and Heavy
