Herbie

I've meaning to get around to getting this down for a while, but 60-hour work-weeks don't really accomodate rambling jazz treatises.  But, I digress (prematurely).

Japan, or maybe Japan of yesteryear, being full of cultured jazz maniacs and full-on completists (is there any other kind?) gets the best and most when it comes to music.  Recently, I've been obsessing over a couple of mid-seventies Japan-only Herbie Hancock releases.  My knowledge of Herbie's output, considering the breadth of his catalog, is pretty shallow.  I probably leave off with the first Headhunters record, and pick up again with I Thought It Was You.  Japanese friends love this song; I can only take so much vocoder from non-Troutmans.  Troutmen?

So, anyway, filling in gaps, foreign-release style.  Loving the following two:

Dedication (1974) is an album recorded on an off day while on tour in Japan.  At first listen, a curious release, albeit a balanced and engaging one.  Side A contains two solo piano takes on tracks from Maiden Voyage (1965), the title track and Dolpin Dance.  Exquisite, contemplative version.  Super gorgeous and beautifully recorded.

Side B, counter to the acoustic meditations of A, is full of synth exploration.  I've heard Nobu referred to recently as possibly the first techno track (1974!).  Recently given the re-edit treatment by one of the Quiet Village guys, and lots of love by Gilles Peterson, it's not too hard to connect the dots.  Though lacking in a strict four-to-the-floor beat, there are layers of ominous keyboard rhythms, jabs, and riffs.  Cool stuff.  Continuing the electro-theme, the album closes with a chunky, bass-programmed (Arp?) take on Canteloupe Island, returning again to earlier catalog, though with a (for its time) considerably futuristic slant.

The following year's live release, Flood, documents a Herbie/Headhunters concert at several Japanese halls (check Butterfly for some of the most well-intentioned but hesitantly delivered Japanese stage banter here).  It's said that with the Headhunters projects, Herbie had aimed to create a more earthy, rooted sound, compared to the airy/spaciness of the preceding Sextant albums.  Evident here in the warmth and ease of the band's sound.  Particularly cool how Hancock opens the show on acoustic piano (Maiden Voyage again, not dissimilar to the Dedication version) and gradually moves towards more electronic sounds as the show progresses.

So, anyway, I need to close this out...  Um, given the state of my iPod and Winehouse in summer '08, I can't really hate on The Joni Letters taking Album of the Year anymore.