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| 8.193 Ft
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| 1. | God Make Me Funky
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| 2. | Mugic
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| 3. | Here and Now
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| 4. | Daffy's Dance
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| 5. | Rima
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| 6. | If You've Got It, You'll Get It
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Jazz
The Headhunters
Baba Duru Oshun - Bells, Drums (Bass), Percussion
Bennie Maupin - Clarinet (Bass), Piano, Sax (Tenor), Saxophone, Vocals
Bill Summers - Agogo, Berimbau, Bongos, Cabasa, Caxixi, Conga, Cowbell, Djembe, Gankogui, Gong, Guiro, Hinedewho, Log Drums, Maracas, Marimbula, Pandeiro, Percussion, Quica, Shekere, Sleigh Bells, Tamborim, Vocals
Blackbyrd McKnight - Guitar (Electric), Vocals
Harvey Mason, Sr. - Percussion
Joyce Jackson - Flute, Flute (Alto)
Mike Clark - Drums, Vocals
Paul Jackson, Jr. - Bass (Electric), Vocals
The Pointer Sisters - Vocals
Zak Diouf - Arranger, Djembe
* Daniel Baumgarten - Reissue Preparation, Reissue Producer
* David Rubinson - Mixdown Engineer, Original Album Producer
* Fred Catero - Engineer
* Herbie Hancock - Original Album Producer
* Isie Wu - Cover Art
* Jean-Pierre Chalbos - Digital Remastering
* Michel Baulot - Cover Design
* Ren Deaton Productions - Art Direction, Artwork, Photography
In 1975, Herbie Hancock's group the Headhunters, which brought him immense success at the time, released their first solo album. Produced by Hancock, but without his participation, the lineup features the Thrust group of Mike Clark on drums, Paul Jackson on bass, Bill Summers on percussion, and Bennie Maupin on various reeds, plus new guitarist DeWayne "Blackbird" McKnight, who toured with Hancock and performed on the Man-Child and Flood albums. They added a few guests: three further percussionists (Zak Diouf, Baba Duru Oshun and Harvey Mason Sr. -- the latter was the first Headhunters drummer) and flutist Joyce Jackson. While the thought of a Hancock-less Headhunters might puzzle some listeners, the group did extremely well without him -- in fact, Survival of the Fittest may be the ultimate space-funk album. The interplay between all musicians is tighter than tight, especially in the rhythm section of Jackson-Clark-Summers, who can effortlessly make everything groove and move. The first track, "God Make Me Funky," marks Jackson's debut as a lead vocalist -- a role he unfortunately wouldn't reprise too often. While his singing is a bit off-key, his vocals owe much to the blues tradition and carry great urgency and authenticity. At the end of the song, his voice is quite reminiscent of Ray Charles. The track starts off as a funky R&B number (the beginning bears close resemblance to their earlier "Palm Grease"), with background vocals being provided by the Pointer Sisters; it then turns into a fast chase with an intense, frantic Bennie Maupin solo which borders on the atonal. "Mugic" starts off like the funk version of "Watermelon Man," and turns out to be a showcase for Bill Summers' various percussion instruments. "Here and Now" starts aimlessly, develops into a lopey groove, and gains speed as Maupin delivers another excellent solo, accompanied by ethereal guitar sounds. "Daffy's Dance" is in a similar vein, though it's rhythmically more consistent and has a rather funny melody. "Rima" is extremely spacy -- McKnight's guitar serves as a substitute for keyboards and produces lots of freaky sounds; Joyce Jackson's echoey alto flute provides a good counterpart for Maupin's bass clarinet; Summers adds atmospheric percussion, and the groove is very subdued. The last track, "If You've Got It, You'll Get It," returns to a funkR&B mode, featuring a catchy bass riff and a singalong chant, though this time McKnight steps into the solo spotlight. Survival of the Fittest is consistently interesting and features lots of great performances by excellent musicians -- and it never forgets to groove. Unfortunately, the album is out of print and was only issued on CD in Japan.
--- Chris Genzel, All Music Guide
The Headhunters
Active Decades: '70s and '90s
Born: 1973
Genre: Jazz
Styles: Funk, Jazz-Funk, Worldbeat, Soul-Jazz, Fusion, Crossover Jazz
The Headhunters represented a major turning point for Herbie Hancock, whose approach to fusion became slicker and more commercial (though not without substance or integrity) with the formation of this popular band in 1973. Before that, the chameleonic pianist/keyboardist had been leading a daring unit called the Sextant, which fused jazz, R&B and rock with world music and took more than its share of chances. But regrettably, the Sextant's three albums for Warner Bros. were modest sellers at best, so in 1973, he disbanded the Sextant and formed the Headhunters. Employing saxman/clarinetist Bennie Maupin (a holdover from the Sextant), bassist Paul Jackson, Jr., drummer Harvey Mason and percussionist Bill Summers, Hancock made a point of being more accessible when he unveiled the Headhunters with his 1973 Columbia date Head Hunters. Fusing jazz with funk and rock, the album sold over a million copies and attracted many R&B and rock fans. In fact, Head Hunters even outsold Miles Davis' popular Bitches Brew. Defined by the catchy "Chameleon" (which was interpreted by jazz singer Eddie Jefferson in 1976 and sampled by various rappers in the 1980s and 1990s) and a funky remake of his 1962 boogaloo "Watermelon Man," Headhunters set the tone for subsequent Columbia projects with the Headhunters, including Thrust (1974), Man-Child (1975), Secrets (1976) and Sunlight (1977). By the end of the decade, the Headhunters were no more, and Hancock was turning his attention to everything from outright R&B to standards and acoustic post-bop. In the 1990s, Sony's Legacy label reissued most of the Headhunters' work on CD, and in 1998 the group reunited to record Return of the Headhunters!
---Alex Henderson, All Music Guide |
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