Herbie Hancock - Mwandishi [Green]

By 1971 Herbie Hancock had left Miles Davis, left Blue Note, and left behind any interest in writing tunes people could hum. Mwandishi is the first album by the sextet that took its name from his Swahili one, and it consists of three tracks across two sides, the shortest running ten minutes.

"Ostinato (Suite For Angela)" opens in fifteen eight, written for Angela Davis, and rides a repeating figure while Eddie Henderson's trumpet and Bennie Maupin's bass clarinet circle overhead. Ronnie Montrose turns up on guitar and Chepito Areas of Santana adds timbales, which tells you how porous the boundaries had become. "You'll Know When You Get There" is the closest thing to a ballad, all Fender Rhodes and suspended time. "Wandering Spirit Song," written by trombonist Julian Priester, takes the whole of side two and drifts between free playing and something like ritual.

David Rubinson produced at Wally Heider in San Francisco, and the band, including Buster Williams and Billy Hart, would push even further out on the two albums that followed. This is where that journey starts, and it is the most approachable of the three.

Music On Vinyl limited edition of 2000 individually numbered copies, pressed on 180 gram green audiophile vinyl.