Introducing funk to jazz-fusion (much like Mahavishnu Orchestra did with rock), Herbie Hancock wet our palate with the 15:44-minute track “Chameleon,” tricking us into believing this is an esoteric funk album . . . but it’s not. The composition “Chameleon” became (with 9 minutes shaved off of the original composition) a jazz standard composed by Herbie Hancock in collaboration with Bennie Maupin, Paul Jackson, and Harvey Mason, featuring solos by Hancock and Maupin. The composition has a bass line and is set to a funk beat and mostly built entirely on a two-chord vamp. And this 12-note bass line was played by Hancock on an ARP Odyssey, as well as was one of the keyboard solos. The other keyboard solo was played on a Fender Rhodes.
After disbanding Herbie Hancock’s former band Mwandishi, he formed the Head Hunters, keeping only Bennie Maupin. He later recruited drummer Harvey Mason, percussionist Bill Summers, and bassist Paul Jackson. Their first composition was “Chameleon.” And Herbie revised his arrangement on his 1962 hit “Watermelon Man,” a tune that was inspired by African Pygmy music and “a new kind of band: a jazz-funk fusion band” emerge.
Herbie Hancock on the creation of head hunters
“If Mwandishi had worked with an intergalactic palette, this new band was working with an earthy one.”
“I wanted something primitive and earthy but with an intellectual component — a smart title that would get people thinking,”
The track “Sly” was named after Sly & The Family Stone, based on a dream Herbie had after a chanting session, which resulted in the creation of Head Huters. “Sly” is a fiercly rhythmic groove and a whole lot of free jazz. Bennie Maupin introduces the jazz with his impassioned erratic solo. There is a 1-bar break (silence) and the groove picks back up with a straight-ahead jazz-influenced electric piano solo by Hancock, climaxing and halting into the opening melody, ending the tune.
Track 4 “Vein Melter” features Maupin in an unusual ritualistic improvisation. The tune is intermittently layered with 1970s synth sounds (strings & woodwinds). Hancock later introduces a psychedelic-layered keyboard. With film score essence, “Vein Melter” is anything but predictable and never repetitive, but is cohesive and filled with the DNA from tracks 1-3, reminding us this is an album cut.
Released in October 1973, Head Hunters went on to become the first platinum-selling album in jazz history.
Track Listing
1. Chameleon (Composers: Herbie Hancock, Bennie Maupin, Paul Jackson, and Haervey Mason)
2. Watermelon Man (Herbie Hancock)
3. Sly (Herbie Hancock)
4. Vein (Herbie Hancock)
Personnel
Herbie Hancock – Fender Rhodes electric piano, Hohner D-6 Clavinet, ARP Odyssey, ARP Soloist, ARP 2600, ARP String Ensemble
Bennie Maupin – soprano and tenor saxophone, saxello, bass clarinet, alto flute
Paul Jackson – electric bass
Harvey Mason – drums Bill Summers – percussion