Man-Child
Studio album by
Herbie Hancock
ReleasedAugust 22, 1975
Recorded1974–75
StudioWally Heider Studios, San Francisco; Village Recorders, Los Angeles; Funky Features, San Francisco; Crystal Studios, Los Angeles
GenreJazz-funk, jazz fusion
Length45:17
LabelColumbia
ProducerDavid Rubinson, Herbie Hancock
Herbie Hancock chronology
Death Wish
(1974)		 Man-Child
(1975)		 Flood
(1975)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic[1]
The Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide[2]
The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings[3]

Man-Child is the fifteenth studio album by jazz pianist Herbie Hancock. The record was released on August 22, 1975 by Columbia Records. It was the final studio album to feature The Headhunters, and a number of guest musicians including saxophonist Wayne Shorter, a full brass section, three different guitarists (including DeWayne McKnight), and Stevie Wonder on harmonica.

Overview

It 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 the hi-hat, and snare drum. The tracks are characterized by short, repeated riffs by both the rhythm section, horns accompaniment, and basslines. Man-Child features less improvisation from the whole band and more concentrated grooves with brief solos from the horns and Hancock himself on synthesizer and Fender Rhodes piano on top of the repeated riffs. This album features the addition of electric guitar to his new sound, which he started only five years prior to this album with Fat Albert Rotunda. The guitarists featured on this album were Melvin "Wah-Wah Watson" Ragin, DeWayne "Blackbyrd" McKnight and David T. Walker. Their extensive use of wah-wah pedal and accenting chords on the up-beat rather than the down-beat is what helps to give the album a distinct and funkier rhythm that is broken up by brief periods of stop-time where only the sustained chords are heard from the electric guitar with an open wah pedal. The riffs are fast-paced and energetic with repeating patterns that combine with multiple voices (i.e. horns, piano, bass, synthesizer, guitar and drums and percussion). The horn section in "Hang Up Your Hang-Ups" plays repeated riffs in unison that alternate with and are answered by electric piano, synthesizer, and electric guitar in brief periods of call and response.

Paul Jackson, Bill Summers, Harvey Mason, Bennie Maupin, and Mike Clark (who replaced Harvey Mason post-1974) formed the core of the group the Headhunters with which Hancock had toured and recorded for the previous three years. This was their final album as a group.

Track listing

No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Hang Up Your Hang Ups"Herbie Hancock, Melvin Ragin, Paul Jackson7:29
2."Sun Touch"Hancock5:12
3."The Traitor"Hancock, Ragin, Louis Johnson, Wayne Shorter9:38
4."Bubbles"Hancock, Ragin9:03
5."Steppin' in It"Hancock8:42
6."Heartbeat"Hancock, Ragin, Jackson5:16

Personnel

References

  1. ↑ Newsom, Jim (2011). "Man-Child - Herbie Hancock | AllMusic". allmusic.com. Retrieved 16 July 2011.
  2. ↑ Swenson, J., ed. (1985). The Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide. U.S.: Random House/Rolling Stone. p. 94. ISBN 0-394-72643-X.
  3. ↑ Cook, Richard; Morton, Brian (2008). The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings (9th ed.). Penguin. p. 642. ISBN 978-0-141-03401-0.
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