Herbie Hancock - Head Hunters

Head Hunters was a pivotal point in Herbie Hancock's career, bringing him into the vanguard of jazz fusion. Hancock had pushed avant-garde boundaries on his own albums and with Miles Davis, but he had never devoted himself to the groove as he did on Head Hunters. Drawing heavily from Sly Stone, Curtis Mayfield, and James Brown, Hancock developed deeply funky, even gritty, rhythms over which he soloed on electric synthesizers, bringing the instrument to the forefront in jazz. It had all of the sensibilities of jazz, particularly in the way it wound off into long improvisations, but its rhythms were firmly planted in funk, soul, and r&b, giving it a mass appeal that made it the biggest-selling jazz album of all time (a record which was later broken). jazz purists, of course, decried the experiments at the time, but Head Hunters still sounds fresh and vital decades after its initial release, and its genre-bending proved vastly influential on not only jazz, but funk, soul, and hip-hop. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide

Name Credits Amy Herot Coordination Bennie Maupin Sax (Tenor), Flute (Alto), Saxello, Flute, Wind, Clarinet (Bass), Saxophone, Sax (Soprano), Percussion, Reeds (Multiple) Bill Summers Surdo, Conga, Agogo, Hinedewho, Drums, Log Drums, ?, Shakere, Multi Instruments, Bottle, Percussion, Balafon, Shekere, Cabasa, Gankogui, Tambourine Bob Belden Executive Producer, Reissue Producer Cozbi Sanchez-Cabrera Art Direction, Reissue Art Director David Rubinson Original Recording Producer, Producer Fred Catero Engineer Gary Pacheco Coordination Gina Campanaro Coordination, Package Coordinator Harvey Mason, Sr. Arranger, Drums Herbie Hancock Fender Rhodes, Synthesizer, Arp Odyssey, Clavinet, Arp, Pipe, Liner Notes, Producer, Keyboards, Soloist, Piano (Electric), ?, Piano, Original Recording Producer, Vocals Jennifer Ebert Packaging Manager Jeremy Zatkin Engineer John Naatjes Tape Vault Research, Tape Research John Snyder Project Producer, ?, Producer Kevin Gore Director, Reissue Series Mark Wilder Digital Mastering, Mastering Michael Brooks Coordination Oren Waters Vocals Patti Matheny A&R, Artist Coordination Paul Jackson Bass (Electric), ?, Marimbula, Marimba, Bass Paul Jackson, Jr. Marimbula, Bass (Electric) Paul M. Martin Art Coordinator, ? Randall Martin Reissue Design, Design Rene Arsenault Assistant Producer, Production Assistant Scott H. Thompson Liner Notes Scott Thompson Liner Notes Seth Rothstein Project Director Steven Berkowitz Reissue Series, Director The Headhunters Group Vic Anesini Digital Remixing, Digital Remastering, Engineer, ? Victor Moscoso Art Direction, Cover Design, Design Waldo Bascom Photography