The Headhunters
Encyclopedia
The Headhunters are an American jazz-funk
fusion
band
, best known for their albums they recorded as a backing band of jazz
keyboard
player Herbie Hancock
during the 1970s. Hancock's debut album with the group, Head Hunters, is one of the best-selling jazz/fusion records of all time.
player Bennie Maupin
from Hancock's previous sextet, reflected his new musical direction. Bassist
Paul Jackson
was really the only other member who maintained a continuous presence in the lineup in subsequent recordings and concerts. On the original Head Hunters album the other band members were percussionist Bill Summers and drummer Harvey Mason
. For the next Hancock album featuring Headhunters, 1974's Thrust
, Mike Clark took over drumming duties.
Both Mason and Clark contributed drums to the Hancock's 1975's solo album Man-Child
which featured 18 musicians.
1975 also saw Headhunters first album without Hancock, Survival of the Fittest
, featuring the hit "God Make Me Funky". This song was sampled
by The Fugees
, among many others, for their track "Ready or Not," and has been covered by Jamiroquai
as a live track. While Hancock's Man-Child moved a bit towards more commercial sounds, Survival of the Fittest kept Headhunters focused to intense jazz-funk. Vocals were heard on two songs but there was still lots of experimental fusion on the album (the band's music is called "space-funk" on some re-issues of the album).
As the 1970s turned to the 1980s, Herbie Hancock drifted away from the band as he moved into his electro
-oriented phase, and they ceased operation as a visible unit. The band reunited with Hancock for the 1998 album Return of the Headhunters.
Clark, Jackson and Summers have since continued recording and performing as The Headhunters, with varied incarnations such as Victor Atkins or Robert Walter
filling in for Hancock on keyboards, and utilizing the amazing gifts of Donald Harrison
as often as possible. They released an album, Evolution Revolution, for Basin Street Records in 2003, and backed up the saxophonist Rebecca Barry on her 2005 album Rebecca Barry and the Headhunters. They toured again in 2008, with Jerry Z on keyboards and bassist T.M. Stevens and, most recently, in 2009 have done gigs featuring Geri Allen
on keyboards and Donald Harrison
on alto with Richie Goods playing bass.
In 2010 The Headhunters signed with Indianapolis jazz label Owl Studios
. Their new album, Platinum, will be released on June 14, 2011 and features many of the original members of the band with guest spots by Snoop Dogg
, George Clinton
, and Killah Priest
, among others.
, funk
, African
and Afro-Caribbean
music. The group is also notable for its pioneering use of electronic instruments
and effects.
In the sleeve notes to Head Hunters, Herbie Hancock confirms that track 3, "Sly," is named in tribute to Sly Stone
, leader of Sly & the Family Stone
. This band, along with James Brown are one of the key influences from funk music. As in funk music, the band often built a groove around a bassline; Paul Jackson's deceptively simple licks are frequently the bedrock of Headhunters material, as much as Harvey Mason's iconic inimitable drumming ("Chameleon
", the famous opening track of Head Hunters, provides a fine example of this, although in this case the main bassline is played by Hancock.) Also taken from funk music is the technique of building a complex groove by combining many small but carefully interlocking, syncopated
contributions.
While straightforward funk depends on a snappy, danceable backbeat
from the drummer, Mike Clark and Paul Jackson's innovative interplay danced in and around the groove motif, creating some advanced and complex rhythmic patterns that put them on the map and in the history books. This is arguably best exemplified by the music on Thrust, particularly on the song "Actual Proof", Mike Clark has established himself as a true innovator of linear style drumming, incorporating jazz and funk. Clark and Jackson's intro to their song "God Make Me Funky" is one of the most sampled pieces in hip hop music.
Early editions of the Headhunters were notable for the absence of a guitarist
. All guitar-like parts were handled by Herbie Hancock on his first two albums with the group, with one exception: The "rhythm guitar" heard interacting with Hancock's synthesizer bass early in the track Chameleon is actually Paul Jackson playing in the upper register of the bass guitar, as pointed out by Steven F. Pond in his book Head Hunters (2005). Electric guitar
s were first introduced when DeWayne "Blackbyrd" McKnight appeared on Survival of the Fittest.
Although the Headhunters' albums were often belittled as "pop" by purist jazz critics at the time, it is now widely accepted that they were significantly influenced by, and made a significant contribution to, the "serious jazz
" canon. Their music featured extensive solo
and group improvisation
over chord progression
s, just as in the jazz mainstream. Most of the overtly jazz-influenced material comes in the form of solos from Herbie Hancock and Bennie Maupin.
A strong connection to African music is evident, with the role of percussion hugely enhanced compared to mainstream jazz, and more extensive exploration of complex polyrhythms compared to most funk.
The Headhunters are also notable for the unusually wide range of instruments they use. Hancock used a myriad of keyboards, from the staple Fender Rhodes electric piano to the Hohner clavinet
, as well as being an early adopter of synthesizer
s, particularly instruments from ARP
. Maupin used bass, tenor, alto and soprano saxophone
s, bass clarinet
and bass flute
, and oddities such as the Saxello and Lyricon
. Unusual choices like beer bottles and the Voice Bag also featured in their instrumentation.
Jazz-funk
Jazz-funk is a sub-genre of jazz music characterized by a strong back beat , electrified sounds, and often, the presence of the first electronic analog synthesizers...
fusion
Jazz fusion
Jazz fusion is a musical fusion genre that developed from mixing funk and R&B rhythms and the amplification and electronic effects of rock, complex time signatures derived from non-Western music and extended, typically instrumental compositions with a jazz approach to lengthy group improvisations,...
band
Band (music)
In music, a musical ensemble or band is a group of musicians that works together to perform music. The following articles concern types of musical bands:* All-female band* Big band* Boy band* Christian band* Church band* Concert band* Cover band...
, best known for their albums they recorded as a backing band of jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
keyboard
Keyboard instrument
A keyboard instrument is a musical instrument which is played using a musical keyboard. The most common of these is the piano. Other widely used keyboard instruments include organs of various types as well as other mechanical, electromechanical and electronic instruments...
player Herbie Hancock
Herbie Hancock
Herbert Jeffrey "Herbie" Hancock is an American pianist, bandleader and composer. As part of Miles Davis's "second great quintet," Hancock helped to redefine the role of a jazz rhythm section and was one of the primary architects of the "post-bop" sound...
during the 1970s. Hancock's debut album with the group, Head Hunters, is one of the best-selling jazz/fusion records of all time.
History
Herbie Hancock originally assembled the band for his 1973 album Head Hunters. The Headhunters' new lineup and instrumentation, retaining only windWind instrument
A wind instrument is a musical instrument that contains some type of resonator , in which a column of air is set into vibration by the player blowing into a mouthpiece set at the end of the resonator. The pitch of the vibration is determined by the length of the tube and by manual modifications of...
player Bennie Maupin
Bennie Maupin
Bennie Maupin is a Detroit Michigan jazz multireedist. He performs on various saxophones, flute and bass clarinet.He is probably best known for his participation in Herbie Hancock's Mwandishi sextet and Headhunters band, and for performing on Miles Davis's seminal fusion record, Bitches Brew...
from Hancock's previous sextet, reflected his new musical direction. Bassist
Bassist
A bass player, or bassist is a musician who plays a bass instrument such as a double bass, bass guitar, keyboard bass or a low brass instrument such as a tuba or sousaphone. Different musical genres tend to be associated with one or more of these instruments...
Paul Jackson
Paul Jackson (bassist)
Paul Jackson is an American jazz bass guitarist and composer. He has played with many of the great jazz artists, most notably playing bass on several of Herbie Hancock's seminal albums, Head Hunters, Thrust, and others. He was born in Oakland, California and began playing bass at the age of nine...
was really the only other member who maintained a continuous presence in the lineup in subsequent recordings and concerts. On the original Head Hunters album the other band members were percussionist Bill Summers and drummer Harvey Mason
Harvey Mason
Harvey William Mason is an American jazz drummer. He has worked with many jazz and fusion artists such as Bob James, The Brecker Brothers, Lee Ritenour, Herbie Hancock's Headhunters and almost all the Mizell Brothers productions with Donald Byrd, Johnny Hammond, Bobbi Humphrey and Gary Bartz...
. For the next Hancock album featuring Headhunters, 1974's Thrust
Thrust (album)
Thrust is a jazz fusion album by Herbie Hancock, released in 1974 on Columbia Records. It served as a follow-up to Hancock's album, Head Hunters , and achieved similar commercial success, as the album reached as high as number 13 on the Billboard Hot 200 listing...
, Mike Clark took over drumming duties.
Both Mason and Clark contributed drums to the Hancock's 1975's solo album Man-Child
Man-Child
Man-Child is the seventeenth album by jazz pianist Herbie Hancock. The album is arguably one of his most funk influenced albums and it represents his further departure from the "spacey, higher atmosphere jazz," as he referred to it, of his earlier career. Hancock uses more funk based rhythms around...
which featured 18 musicians.
1975 also saw Headhunters first album without Hancock, Survival of the Fittest
Survival of the Fittest (Headhunters album)
Survival of the Fittest is the debut album by the Jazz/Funk quintet The Headhunters. The album was released by Arista Records in 1975. The album features the stand out track "God Make Me Funky", which has been sampled numerous times by prominent rappers....
, featuring the hit "God Make Me Funky". This song was sampled
Sampling (music)
In music, sampling is the act of taking a portion, or sample, of one sound recording and reusing it as an instrument or a different sound recording of a song or piece. Sampling was originally developed by experimental musicians working with musique concrète and electroacoustic music, who physically...
by The Fugees
The Fugees
Fugees were a Haitian American hip hop group who rose to fame in the mid-1990s. Their repertoire included elements of Hip hop, soul and Caribbean music, particularly reggae. The members of the group were rapper/singer/producer Wyclef Jean, rapper/singer/producer Lauryn Hill, and rapper Pras Michel...
, among many others, for their track "Ready or Not," and has been covered by Jamiroquai
Jamiroquai
Jamiroquai is a British jazz funk and acid jazz band formed in 1992. Jamiroquai were initially the most prominent component in the early-1990s London-based acid jazz movement, alongside groups such as Incognito, the James Taylor Quartet, and the Brand New Heavies. Other Acid Jazz artists such as...
as a live track. While Hancock's Man-Child moved a bit towards more commercial sounds, Survival of the Fittest kept Headhunters focused to intense jazz-funk. Vocals were heard on two songs but there was still lots of experimental fusion on the album (the band's music is called "space-funk" on some re-issues of the album).
As the 1970s turned to the 1980s, Herbie Hancock drifted away from the band as he moved into his electro
Electro (music)
Electro is a genre of electronic dance music directly influenced by the use of TR-808 drum machines, Moog keytar synthesizers and funk sampling...
-oriented phase, and they ceased operation as a visible unit. The band reunited with Hancock for the 1998 album Return of the Headhunters.
Clark, Jackson and Summers have since continued recording and performing as The Headhunters, with varied incarnations such as Victor Atkins or Robert Walter
Robert Walter (musician)
Robert Walter is a keyboard player specializing in instrumental soul jazz on the Hammond B3 organ. He is a founding memberof The Greyboy Allstars, and has since led his own band Robert Walter's 20th Congress.-Biography:...
filling in for Hancock on keyboards, and utilizing the amazing gifts of Donald Harrison
Donald Harrison
Donald Harrison, Jr. is an American jazz saxophonist from New Orleans, Louisiana.-Biography:Harrison studied at the New Orleans Center for Creative Arts and Berklee College of Music. He played with Roy Haynes, Jack McDuff, Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers, Terence Blanchard and Don Pullen in the...
as often as possible. They released an album, Evolution Revolution, for Basin Street Records in 2003, and backed up the saxophonist Rebecca Barry on her 2005 album Rebecca Barry and the Headhunters. They toured again in 2008, with Jerry Z on keyboards and bassist T.M. Stevens and, most recently, in 2009 have done gigs featuring Geri Allen
Geri Allen
Geri Allen is an American composer/pianist educator jazz pianist, raised in Detroit, Michigan, and educated in the Detroit Public Schools. Allen has worked with many of the greats of modern music, including Ornette Coleman, Ron Carter, Ravi Coltrane, Tony Williams, Dave Holland, Jack DeJohnette,...
on keyboards and Donald Harrison
Donald Harrison
Donald Harrison, Jr. is an American jazz saxophonist from New Orleans, Louisiana.-Biography:Harrison studied at the New Orleans Center for Creative Arts and Berklee College of Music. He played with Roy Haynes, Jack McDuff, Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers, Terence Blanchard and Don Pullen in the...
on alto with Richie Goods playing bass.
In 2010 The Headhunters signed with Indianapolis jazz label Owl Studios
Owl Studios
Owl Studios is an independent record label, started in 2005 by J. Allan Hall, that concentrates on jazz, R&B, and jam band genres. It is based in Indianapolis, Indiana and operates from its downtown offices on Monument Circle.-Formation:...
. Their new album, Platinum, will be released on June 14, 2011 and features many of the original members of the band with guest spots by Snoop Dogg
Snoop Dogg
Calvin Cordozar Broadus, Jr. , better known by his stage name Snoop Dogg, is an American rapper, record producer, and actor. Snoop is best known as a rapper in the West Coast hip hop scene, and for being one of Dr. Dre's most notable protégés. Snoop Dogg was a Crip gang member while in high school...
, George Clinton
George Clinton (musician)
George Clinton is an American singer, songwriter, bandleader, and music producer and the principal architect of P-Funk. He was the mastermind of the bands Parliament and Funkadelic during the 1970s and early 1980s, and launched a solo career in 1981. He has been cited as one of the foremost...
, and Killah Priest
Killah Priest
Walter Reed, better known as Killah Priest, Iron Sheik from the Middle East, or Masada, is an American rapper and Wu-Tang Clan affiliate who was raised in Bedford-Stuyvesant & Brownsville neighbourhoods in Brooklyn. He is known for intensely spiritual lyrics loaded with metaphors and religious...
, among others.
Musical style and influences
The Headhunters' music is a complex blend of many styles and genres, including jazzJazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
, funk
Funk
Funk is a music genre that originated in the mid-late 1960s when African American musicians blended soul music, jazz and R&B into a rhythmic, danceable new form of music. Funk de-emphasizes melody and harmony and brings a strong rhythmic groove of electric bass and drums to the foreground...
, African
Music of Africa
Africa is a vast continent and its regions and nations have distinct musical traditions. The music of North Africa for the most part has a different history from sub-Saharan African music traditions....
and Afro-Caribbean
Caribbean music
The music of the Caribbean is a diverse grouping of musical genres. They are each syntheses of African, European, Indian and native influences, largely created by descendants of African slaves...
music. The group is also notable for its pioneering use of electronic instruments
Electronic musical instrument
An electronic musical instrument is a musical instrument that produces its sounds using electronics. Such an instrument sounds by outputting an electrical audio signal that ultimately drives a loudspeaker....
and effects.
In the sleeve notes to Head Hunters, Herbie Hancock confirms that track 3, "Sly," is named in tribute to Sly Stone
Sly Stone
Sly Stone is an American musician, songwriter, and record producer, most famous for his role as frontman for Sly & the Family Stone, a band which played a critical role in the development of soul, funk and psychedelia in the 1960s and 1970s. In 1993, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of...
, leader of Sly & the Family Stone
Sly & the Family Stone
Sly and the Family Stone were an American rock, funk, and soul band from San Francisco, California. Active from 1966 to 1983, the band was pivotal in the development of soul, funk, and psychedelic music...
. This band, along with James Brown are one of the key influences from funk music. As in funk music, the band often built a groove around a bassline; Paul Jackson's deceptively simple licks are frequently the bedrock of Headhunters material, as much as Harvey Mason's iconic inimitable drumming ("Chameleon
Chameleon (composition)
"Chameleon" is a jazz standard composed by Herbie Hancock in collaboration with Bennie Maupin, Paul Jackson and Harvey Mason, all of whom also performed the original 15'44" version on the 1973 landmark album Head Hunters featuring solos by Hancock and Maupin....
", the famous opening track of Head Hunters, provides a fine example of this, although in this case the main bassline is played by Hancock.) Also taken from funk music is the technique of building a complex groove by combining many small but carefully interlocking, syncopated
Syncopation
In music, syncopation includes a variety of rhythms which are in some way unexpected in that they deviate from the strict succession of regularly spaced strong and weak but also powerful beats in a meter . These include a stress on a normally unstressed beat or a rest where one would normally be...
contributions.
While straightforward funk depends on a snappy, danceable backbeat
Beat (music)
The beat is the basic unit of time in music, the pulse of the mensural level . In popular use, the beat can refer to a variety of related concepts including: tempo, meter, rhythm and groove...
from the drummer, Mike Clark and Paul Jackson's innovative interplay danced in and around the groove motif, creating some advanced and complex rhythmic patterns that put them on the map and in the history books. This is arguably best exemplified by the music on Thrust, particularly on the song "Actual Proof", Mike Clark has established himself as a true innovator of linear style drumming, incorporating jazz and funk. Clark and Jackson's intro to their song "God Make Me Funky" is one of the most sampled pieces in hip hop music.
Early editions of the Headhunters were notable for the absence of a guitarist
Guitarist
A guitarist is a musician who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of instruments such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themselves on the guitar while singing.- Versatility :The guitarist controls an extremely...
. All guitar-like parts were handled by Herbie Hancock on his first two albums with the group, with one exception: The "rhythm guitar" heard interacting with Hancock's synthesizer bass early in the track Chameleon is actually Paul Jackson playing in the upper register of the bass guitar, as pointed out by Steven F. Pond in his book Head Hunters (2005). Electric guitar
Electric guitar
An electric guitar is a guitar that uses the principle of direct electromagnetic induction to convert vibrations of its metal strings into electric audio signals. The signal generated by an electric guitar is too weak to drive a loudspeaker, so it is amplified before sending it to a loudspeaker...
s were first introduced when DeWayne "Blackbyrd" McKnight appeared on Survival of the Fittest.
Although the Headhunters' albums were often belittled as "pop" by purist jazz critics at the time, it is now widely accepted that they were significantly influenced by, and made a significant contribution to, the "serious jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
" canon. Their music featured extensive solo
Solo (music)
In music, a solo is a piece or a section of a piece played or sung by a single performer...
and group improvisation
Improvisation
Improvisation is the practice of acting, singing, talking and reacting, of making and creating, in the moment and in response to the stimulus of one's immediate environment and inner feelings. This can result in the invention of new thought patterns, new practices, new structures or symbols, and/or...
over chord progression
Chord progression
A chord progression is a series of musical chords, or chord changes that "aims for a definite goal" of establishing a tonality founded on a key, root or tonic chord. In other words, the succession of root relationships...
s, just as in the jazz mainstream. Most of the overtly jazz-influenced material comes in the form of solos from Herbie Hancock and Bennie Maupin.
A strong connection to African music is evident, with the role of percussion hugely enhanced compared to mainstream jazz, and more extensive exploration of complex polyrhythms compared to most funk.
The Headhunters are also notable for the unusually wide range of instruments they use. Hancock used a myriad of keyboards, from the staple Fender Rhodes electric piano to the Hohner clavinet
Clavinet
A Clavinet is an electrically amplified keyboard instrument manufactured by the Hohner company. It is essentially an electronically amplified clavichord, analogous to an electric guitar. Its distinctive bright staccato sound has appeared particularly in funk, disco, rock, and reggae songs.Various...
, as well as being an early adopter of synthesizer
Synthesizer
A synthesizer is an electronic instrument capable of producing sounds by generating electrical signals of different frequencies. These electrical signals are played through a loudspeaker or set of headphones...
s, particularly instruments from ARP
ARP Instruments, Inc.
ARP Instruments, Inc. was an American manufacturer of electronic musical instruments, founded by Alan Robert Pearlman in 1969. Best known for its line of synthesizers that emerged in the early 1970s, ARP closed its doors in 1981 due to financial difficulties...
. Maupin used bass, tenor, alto and soprano saxophone
Saxophone
The saxophone is a conical-bore transposing musical instrument that is a member of the woodwind family. Saxophones are usually made of brass and played with a single-reed mouthpiece similar to that of the clarinet. The saxophone was invented by the Belgian instrument maker Adolphe Sax in 1846...
s, bass clarinet
Clarinet
The clarinet is a musical instrument of woodwind type. The name derives from adding the suffix -et to the Italian word clarino , as the first clarinets had a strident tone similar to that of a trumpet. The instrument has an approximately cylindrical bore, and uses a single reed...
and bass flute
Flute
The flute is a musical instrument of the woodwind family. Unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is an aerophone or reedless wind instrument that produces its sound from the flow of air across an opening...
, and oddities such as the Saxello and Lyricon
Lyricon
The Lyricon is an electronic wind instrument, the first wind controller to be constructed.Invented by Bill Bernardi , it was manufactured by a company called Computone Inc in Massachusetts...
. Unusual choices like beer bottles and the Voice Bag also featured in their instrumentation.
Members
The following members appeared on multiple Headhunters releases:- Herbie HancockHerbie HancockHerbert Jeffrey "Herbie" Hancock is an American pianist, bandleader and composer. As part of Miles Davis's "second great quintet," Hancock helped to redefine the role of a jazz rhythm section and was one of the primary architects of the "post-bop" sound...
: keyboards, electric pianos, clavinet, synthesizers - Bennie MaupinBennie MaupinBennie Maupin is a Detroit Michigan jazz multireedist. He performs on various saxophones, flute and bass clarinet.He is probably best known for his participation in Herbie Hancock's Mwandishi sextet and Headhunters band, and for performing on Miles Davis's seminal fusion record, Bitches Brew...
: saxophones, saxello, clarinets, flutes, lyricon - Paul JacksonPaul Jackson (bassist)Paul Jackson is an American jazz bass guitarist and composer. He has played with many of the great jazz artists, most notably playing bass on several of Herbie Hancock's seminal albums, Head Hunters, Thrust, and others. He was born in Oakland, California and began playing bass at the age of nine...
: bass - Mike Clark: drums; Harvey MasonHarvey MasonHarvey William Mason is an American jazz drummer. He has worked with many jazz and fusion artists such as Bob James, The Brecker Brothers, Lee Ritenour, Herbie Hancock's Headhunters and almost all the Mizell Brothers productions with Donald Byrd, Johnny Hammond, Bobbi Humphrey and Gary Bartz...
: drums (on Head Hunters) - Bill Summers: percussion
- DeWayne "Blackbyrd" McKnight: Electric Guitar
- Wah Wah Watson: Electric Guitar
Discography
- Survival Of The Fittest (1975, Arista)
- Straight From The Gate (1977, Arista)
- Return of the Headhunters! (1998, Verve)
- Evolution Revolution (2003, Basin Street)
- On Top - Live In Europe (2008, BHM Productions)
- PlatinumPlatinum (The Headhunters album)Platinum is the 2011 Owl Studios debut from legendary Jazz/Funk group The Headhunters. The album follows The Headhunters' tendency to blend genres and instrumentation, deftly moving from Jazz to Hip Hop to R&B and back again throughout each track and the series of interludes and segues which joins...
(2011, Owl Studios)