Sextant

Description

The first recording Hancock made for Columbia and the last one done with his Mwandishi octet, a group deeply under the influence of Miles Davis experimentation with electronics and global polyrhythms, SEXTANT was dismissed upon its release as a fusion-absorbed bastardisation of jazz forms and melody-free dead ends. But heard through modern ears seduced by Miles global funk and Brian Enos soundscapes, its a revelation, forecasting a future that may or may not have anything to do with Jazz. It starts with a flurry of backbeats amidst a funk bottom, as bassist Buster Williams and drummer Billy Hart swing wickedly on midtempo grooves and percussionist Buck Clarke adds a light layer of speedier rhythms. Bennie Maupin, Eddie Henderson and Julian Priesters horns keep the music at least slightly grounded in the electric jazz idiom. Still, the true alchemists in this sonic play are Hancock (strapped in a cockpit of keyboards and synthesizers, orchestrating the chaos) and synthesizer technician Patrick Gleason, whose special effects impregnate these three tracks with a futurism beyond its years.