Herbie Hancock

This is the album that saw Hancock transform from a respected jazz genius into a funkified crossover superstar. While "Chameleon" and the plugged-in reading of "Watermelon Man" got plenty of airplay, Hancock never panders to his listeners. This is an extremely influential album and is now considered the Rosetta Stone for those who toil in hip-hop and electronica.

Herbie Hancock has dissolved his old sextet and abandoned the extensive synthesizer
overdubbing which marred his previous solo LPs. Headhunters, tight and concise, could be
called soul-jazz (soul in a Sly, Seventies sense), but there's more to it than that.
"Watermelon Man," Hancock's Sixties funk classic, gets a new arrangement that reveals the
changes. It begins with an African-style flute-and-whistle ensemble. Electric pia... More >