These two CDs include three LPs from 1969 to 1972, one of Herbie Hancock's most creative periods. The earliest album, Fat Albert Rotunda, features a fine sextet highlighted by tenor saxophonist Joe Henderson, like Hancock a master at maintaining strong rhythmic grooves while stretching outward. The later music, with a regularly working band, becomes increasingly expansive and exploratory. Like Miles Davis on Bitches Brew, Hancock was increasingly interested in layering rhythms and textures, emphasizing percussion, electric keyboards, and potent soloists, and broadening his palette of sounds to eventually include synthesizers. There are significant contributions from the inspiring drummer Billy Hart and some potent, if neglected, soloists in multireed player Bennie Maupin (also on Bitches Brew) and trombonist Julian Priester (a Sun Ra associate), who also provided the extended compositions "Water Torture" and "Wandering Spirit Song," respectively. This is a sometimes overlooked period in Hancock's music, bracketed by the quality of his earlier acoustic music, both with Davis and as a leader on Blue Note, and his later commercial success, but it's some of his most innovative work. ~ Stuart Broomer
Tracks::
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Disc: 1 :
1 Wiggle-Waggle
2 Fat Mama
3 Tell Me A Bedtime Story
4 Oh! Oh! Here He Comes
5 Jessica
6 Fat Albert Rotunda
7 Lil' Brother
8 Ostinato (Suite For Angela)
9 You'll Know When You Get There
Disc: 2 :
1 Wandering Spirit Song
2 Sleeping Giant: Part One/Part Two/Part Three/Part Four/Part Five
3 Quasar
4 Water Torture
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Compiles the three albums Herbie recorded for Warner in the 70's in one double CD set:
Tracks 1-1 to 1-7 are taken from "Fat Albert Rotunda" WS 1834 (1969).
Tracks 1-8 to 1-9 and track 2-1 are taken from "Mwandishi" WS 1898 (1971).
Tracks 2-2 to 2-4 are taken from "Crossings" BS 2617 (1972)