Vein Melter: Herbie Hancock’s Head Hunters at 50
Reflecting on the groundbreaking jazz-funk odyssey from the visionary keyboardist
Miles Davis may have given birth to jazz fusion but most of those who adopted the genre tag took it in an entirely different direction.
Davis incorporated the funk of Sly and the Family Stone with the grit of Hendrixian hard rock to conjure a hypnotic template, almost avant-garde in its free-flowing and modal solos. However, those he inspired often watered down the funk elements and certainly left the grit behind. However, former Davis alumn pianist/keyboardist Herbie Hancock forged a path all his own, breaking with both his mentor and other fusion musicians.
Herbie Hancock’s career was already in the ascendent when he joined Miles Davis’s second great quintet in 1963, alongside such jazz luminaries as Ron Carter, Wayne Shorter and Tony Williams. The group played a sort of post-bop style, often utilizing complex jazz rhythms but employing harmonies influenced by modal and free jazz. They produced a slew of classic albums including E.S.P., Miles Smiles and Filles de Kilimanjaro. When the group began to disband in 1968, Davis moved to explore his interest in rock and funk to a greater degree, and he pulled a somewhat reluctant Hancock along with him. Hancock was initially skeptical of playing electric instruments, but soon took to it. He appeared on Davis’s classic electric albums like 1969’s In A Silent Way and 1971’s A Tribute to Jack Johnson, not to mention 1972’s gritty On The Corner. The electricity soon flowed into his own work as well, starting with Fat Albert Rotunda and then with solo albums such as Mwandishi and Sextant. Later that same year, he disbanded the sextet and formed the Headhunters, releasing the Head Hunters album under his own name on October 26th.
Apparent from the opening track, “Chameleon,” Hancock was putting his own stamp on the fusion genre. Sidestepping the loose feel of Davis’s work and the grittier rock-based work of the Mahavishnu Orchestra, the Headhunters performed a taut sort of funk that despite its groove felt locked down and controlled by the ensemble. His keyboard work takes center stage with his bandmates coalescing around him.
Compositionally, “Chameleon” starts with just drums and a keyboard bass line and slowly builds from there. Each subsequent instrument enters and adds another layer to the song. Only after running through a couple of themes do the solos begin. Hancock solos first, his soulful lines hooking the ear before disintegrating into psychedelic slurs. After a bass break, Hancock joins drummer Harvey Mason, percussionist Bill Summers and bassist Paul Jackson in a spirited and egalitarian conversation, a true masterclass in funk-fusion. Saxophonist Bennie Maupin closes the song out with a solo that wouldn’t have sounded out of place coming from the JB’s.
“Watermelon Man” appeared on Hancock’s debut album Takin’ Off and sounded like a classic Blue Note Records tune. Here it appears updated and reimagined. Bill Summers starts the song, blowing into a beer bottle in imitation of an African wind instrument. The pulse he plays lays the foundation of the funk that follows. Things are more relaxed than on “Chameleon,” a slinky groove with a blues progression. Once again, the layered instrumentation is a key feature.
The song features Maupin as the lone soloist but once again, he sidesteps the cliche of overly-complicated fusion performances and just lays down simple melodic lines.
Also known for his soundtrack work, Hancock begins “Sly” with a section that sounds taken from a movie soundtrack, full of tension and mystery. The song then shifts gears into a deeper, uptempo groove.
Maupin’s solo paints more outside the lines here, echoing the frenetic energy of the band comping underneath. Hancock, for his part, avoids the psychedelic effects from his earlier solo and instead finds rapport with the group through spidery lines often played at breakneck speed.
The album closes with the more subdued “Vein Melter.” This slow-burner does hint more at Miles Davis’s own fusion work yet the Headhunters don’t let things slip as deeply into the abstract. The groove is spacious and Maupin proves quite lyrical in this context. Hancock adds a bit of echo to his keys and sounds like he’s slipping into a blissful meditation. The song itself unwinds slowly as if the layering utilized throughout the record is reversing.
Head Hunters is the flagship album among a slew of great Hancock fusion albums. And though no one really tackled fusion quite the way he did, it’s an incredibly influential recording. Not only was it a mandatory release for jazz, funk, and R&B musicians, but it certainly influenced hip-hop as well. This can be heard in samples from the album appearing on songs by 2Pac, Dilla, Digable Planets and Nas among countless others.
Like Miles Davis, Herbie Hancock has always been able to move from one style to the next effortlessly, but he’s also always achieved this without losing his own voice or imitating his mentors. Head Hunters might have been his greatest commercial achievement but pretty much everything he’s done deserves attention. But make no mistake, this is the best place to start.
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