Over the last five decades, his distinctive voice and relentless experimentation have made deep, foundational contributions to post-bop and fusion jazz while also shaping contemporary funk, soul, R&B and electronic music and influencing generations of hip-hop and techno artists. Mastered at Sterling Sound by Ryan K.Herbie Hancock is an icon of modern music.

Jazz purists, of course, decried the experiments at the time, but Head Hunters still sounds fresh and vital four decades after its initial release, and its genre-bending proved vastly influential on not only jazz, but funk, soul and hip-hop. 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). 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. 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. Head Hunters was a pivotal point in Hancock's career, bringing him into the vanguard of jazz fusion. The opening bars of 'Watermelon Man' with Bill Summers blowing into a beer bottle, along with the band's funky grooves and new electric sounds, captured the crossover fans who had otherwise avoided buying jazz records. Hancock took over all synthesizer duties, along with Fender Rhodes and clavinet and was backed by bass and drums. It was in 1973 that he gathered a new band to combine electric music with funk, perhaps best exemplified in the pop music of Sly Stone. Head Hunters became not only Hancock's best-selling album, but also the second highest selling jazz album of all time (at last RIAA count). After leaving Davis' fold, Herbie put together a new band called The Headhunters and, in 1973, recorded Head Hunters.

Hancock's own solo career blossomed on Blue Note, with classic albums including Maiden Voyage, Empyrean Isles and Speak Like a Child. During his five years with Davis, Herbie recorded many classics with the jazz legend including ESP, Nefertiti and Sorcerer, and later on he made appearances on Davis' groundbreaking In a Silent Way and Bitches Brew.

In 1963, Miles Davis invited Hancock to join the Miles Davis Quintet. There are few artists in the music industry who have had more influence on acoustic and electronic jazz and R&B than Herbie Hancock. This item not eligible for any further discount offers! The Second Highest-Selling Jazz Album Of All Time! Smith! Plated & Pressed at Quality Record Pressings! Herbie Hancock's Masterpiece, Now Cut At 45rpm!Ģ00g 45rpm Vinyl Mastered at Sterling Sound by Ryan K.

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