Herbie Hancock

Herbert Jeffrey Hancock (born April 12, 1940) is a jazz pianist and composer from Chicago, Illinois, USA. Hancock is one of jazz music's most important and influential pianists and composers. He embraced elements of rock, funk, and soul while adopting freer stylistic elements from jazz.

Headhunters

After the sometimes "airy" and decidely experimental "Mwandishi" albums, Hancock was eager to perform more "earthy" and "funky" music. The Mwandishi records had seen mixed reviews and poor sales, so it is probable that Hancock was motivated by financial concerns as well as artistic restlessness.

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He gathered a new band, which he called The Headhunters, keeping only Maupin from the sextet. The album Head Hunters released in 1973, was a major hit, and crossed over to pop audiences, though it prompted criticism from some jazz fans.

Related Topics:
The Headhunters - Head Hunters - Pop

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Despite charges of "selling out," later ears have regarded the album well: "Head Hunters still sounds fresh and vital two decades after its initial release, and its genre-bending proved vastly influential on not only jazz, but funk, soul, and hip-hop." Allmusic.com entry

Related Topics:
Selling out - Genre - Jazz - Funk - Soul - Hip-hop

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Hancock released another album with The Headhunters named Thrust the following year, which was almost as well-received as its predecessor if not attaining the same level of commercial success. The Headhunters were to make another successful album (called "Survival of the Fittest") without Hancock while Hancock himself started to make even more commercial albums. Headhunters reunited with Hancock in 1998 for another album.

Related Topics:
The Headhunters - Thrust - Survival of the Fittest - 1998

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