Late to the Party: Herbie Hancock - Mwandishi

Herbie Hancock is one of those artists that falls into this writer's "I don't listen to enough of ____" lists. The versatility and raw, unabashed talent displayed in almost every piece of work Hancock composes or contributes to is one not seen in many other artists in my lifetime. From the sweet jazz of Maiden Voyage to the electo-funk of Headhunters, Hancock gives his all to whatever he is does, and that "all" is righteous.

I recently discovered Hancock's Mwandishi while doing some research on his past efforts, and man, where the hell has this been all my life?! A collection of tunes recorded in the early 70s while Hancock was with the Warner Bros. label, this album seems to encompass all that Hancock is about. Collecting tunes from three previous Warner recordings - Fat Mama, Crossings and Mwandishi - the album is a great look into the past and future of Hancock. It pays tribute to the work he had done with Miles Davis in the 60s and the work he would eventually do with The Headhunters in the mid-70s.

While purists will complain (and justifiably so) that this is not a complete Mwandishi album for the fact that it does not include the second half of the sextet's discography (recorded on Columbia), this album does not fall into the "greatest hits" category that I tend to loathe for its inability to convey the true emotion of the story an album can tell when enjoyed start to finish. However, my one complaint about this album is that because it is a collection of three different albums, it's "listenability" (a term I use for how easily an album can be enjoyed start to finish) is not great. That mixture of Miles and Headhunters mentioned earlier goes back and forth almost with each tune. So, just as your getting set on the sweet Miles horns, a Headhunters bop-funk comes on, and vice versa. Other than that, this is an exciting and motivating album. Exciting in that it's a look into Hancock's lesser known works and motivating in that it makes you want to find more just like it.

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