Track Listing

1. Rain Dance
2. Hidden Shadows
3. Hornets

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #164724 in Music
• Released on: 1998-08-18
• Number of discs: 1
• Format: Original recording remastered

Amazon.com essential recording
Recorded with the sly, space-funky band that Herbie Hancock formed as Mwandishi (check out the two-CD Warner Bros. collection), Sextant is one of those cornerstone jazz CDs. It ranks with the best early, electric fusion for its fuzzing of textures, always used as bedrock for killer, roomy solos. A troika of horn greats can take much of the credit for the solos: trombonist Julian Priester, trumpeter Eddie Henderson, and saxist Bennie Maupin. Each generates great, dense ideas without betraying Hancock's eerie ambience and funky vibe. Yes, this is an aggregation of many 1970s-era ideas: renewed sense of Africanisms (at least in the band's naming), intensified percussive underpinnings, and a heap of rumbly rhythms that give props to everyone in neofunk jazz from Clyde Stubblefield to Funkadelic, albeit in a slowed, methodically rhythmic vein. Hancock's keyboards make fine clouds, as well as slinking shuffles. --Andrew Bartlett

Customer Reviews

Absolutely Brilliant
This has been an underground classic for years; I'm happy to say that this reissue presents us with a strong remastered sound and a quality package.

The music's brilliant and a bit unlike anything else. It's truly musical fusion (fusion of rock, jazz, and funk). The band's playing is top-notch and the musical concepts are ambitious. The overall effect of the music is, as one friend of mine says, similar to watching a fish tank full of flourescent, brightly-colored fish go through their paces. It's basically a real head trip and highly musical. Unfortunately Hancock disbanded Mwandishi subsequent to this recording and never reached for these heights again.

Funky Avant Garde Mix Still Potent
Herbie disbanded his sextet shortly after this recording to form 'Headhunters". Though I'm a big fan of his funk quartet it's a shame that this line of thought wasn't continued. He himself said that there was nowhere else to go with this music and perhaps he's right. However, Sextant stands as a powerful milestone in the post "Bitch's Brew" world. Innovative in just about every respect; instrumentation, composition, use of synthesizers and incredible solos from Herbie and Eddie Henderson et al. Though this is unquestionably avant-garde the earthy (and unearthly) grooves makes it accessible to anyone with an open ear and mind. Though recorded in the early seventies this music is still fresh and futuristic. A wonderful artistic highpoint for Herbie Hancock in a career not lacking in creative highpoints. My highest recommendation!

Early Funky Spacey Fusion!!
Wow. This album was the last recording of the Mwandishi group before the Headhunters era of funk. However, in these earlier Herbie explorations, you can get lost in the shifting sea of sounds...this music is insanely good! Rain Dance can probably be considered the first ever "techno" song, consisting of open, spacey improvisation around a synth loop. Hidden Shadows is definitely my favorite track-- from its opening to finish, it continuously builds up energy, from the great polyrythmic drums and bass, to Eddie Henderson's scathing trumpet solo, to the constantly shifting psychedelic sounds of Herbie's keys and Dr. Patrick Gleeson's synth contributions, until Herbie takes it one step further on the acoustic piano. Finally, there's Hornets. Well...you might want to burn one before this- 20-minutes of high-energy improvisation, complete with kazoo and the repetitive, driving two-note bassline, and steady drums...sounds beautiful, spacey, funky, and intense in a 70's Miles, On the Corner kind of Way. Get this album, sit back, and enjoy where it takes you!!!!