Herbie Hancock: Large and In Charge Posted by independent j

Fat Mama - Herbie Hancock Fat Albert Rotunda - Herbie Hancock both from Fat Albert Rotunda on Warner Brothers (1969). After an extended hiatus, I am back to try to bring you some enjoyable tunes, maybe a little knowledge, and hopefully some positive feelings. Maybe it is all the cake I've consumed while hurdling the matrimonial bar recently, but I've been enjoying Herbie Hancock's ultra-pun entitled Fat Albert Rotunda album on near repeat for weeks now. Hancock left Miles Davis's group in 1968 and also left Blue Note at that time. FAR was simultaneously his first album for Warner Brothers and his first recorded effort at combining jazz and funk. The songs are extensions of music Hancock wrote for Bill Cosby's Fat Albert TV Show and the two selections here definitely have a happy, grooving attitude that fits will with the show. However, this is hardly simple children's fare. The arrangements are dense and the solo-ing is classic throughout especially from Joe Henderson (sax). "Jessica" and "Tell Me A Bedtime Story" are often singled out as slow, soulful mood-pieces at odds with the rest of the album's upbeat spirit, but thematically I think the full albums works together well. Still, up today are two of the more upbeat track "Fat Mama" and the title track, neither of which would be out of place with current nu-jazz dance compositions from folks like Quantic or Beatfanatic. The opening line of "Fat Mama" is instantly recognizable to any fan of The Fabulous youngest Native Tongue, who sadly has fallen on hard times. "Fat Albert Rotunda" opens up things a little more, but still features Hancock's electric piano flitting above and around the horns locked into a pretty tight groove (remember Mwandishi is recorded just a year later) set down by bassist Buster Williams and drums by either Tootie Heath or the inimitable Bernard Purdie. Like all of Hancock's albums this has been reissued CD at least once and is pretty easy to find either digitally or on vinyl. You may think me juvenile, but as much as I love Hancock (and I love his music dearly), I do not hear his name in the same way since I saw this last year.