“Black Narcissus” : Discovering Joe Henderson’s ‘Power To The People’

Despite not knowing all that much about jazz saxophonist Joe Henderson, his debut 1963 album Page One was one of the first jazz records I bought. Sure, there were a couple CDs I bought in the mid-90s when I wanted to broaden my musical horizons; there was Thelonious Monk’s Monk’s Dream(that one stuck), as well […]

Hancock Live, Party Like Adults, Walking the Dog, Road To Nowhere

How often can you say you’ve seen a legend perform live? I mean, someone who’s changed the face of their chosen art? Someone who helped to define an era and influence and inspire countless generations after them? I would say for me it was once, and it was Friday night. I was lucky enough to […]

“You’ll Know When You Get There” : The Genius Of Herbie Hancock’s Mwandishi

It’s not that Herbie Hancock doesn’t get the love and heaps of praise that he deserves, but his trilogy of albums he released for Warner Brothers Records in the early 70s definitely do not. Mwandishi, The Crossing, and Sextant were released concurrently in 1971, 1972, and 1973, and saw Hancock expanding his sonic palate exponentially. […]

Alone and I

Seems like it’s been days since I sat down to write. In fact, it’s been three days. I’ve been outside the last two days doing years worth of procrastination landscaping. I know it’s much easier to do the work a bit more often, as opposed to waiting 4, 5 years and doing it all in […]

Herbie Hancock and the Warner Years

I’ve been listening to Herbie Hancock for nearly ten years now. I started out with his seminal funk/fusion masterpiece Headhunters. I’d just gotten out of an 8 hour Hazmat training session in South Bend and my mind was fried. I stopped at a Borders book store before heading home to grab a coffee and just […]