It was Herbie Hancock who started the Headhunters project in 1973. After noticing that his friends had the records of his freefusion unit at home, but never played them, he changed course. The acoustic sextet that he had under his wing gave way to an electric group that translated the hip sound of James Brown, Sly Stone and Miles Davis into its own compact funk sound. With resounding success.
Especially the debut album Headhunters (1973) was very popular with a large and youthful audience. And now, in 1998, the Headhunters formation is back. Playful and funky as ever. Headhunters are now: Herbie Hancock (keys), Benny Maupin (saxophone / bass clarinet), Bill Summers (percussion), Paul Jackson (bass) and Mike Clark (drums). Guests include Pharcyde rapper Trevant Hardson, singer N'Dea Davenport, keyboardist Patrice Rushen and keyboardist Billy Childs. Good songs on this ten track CD include Funk Hunter, Premonition, PP Head and 6/8 - 7/8. (JW)more
