The Headhunters

History

In 1973, the band comprised Hancock (keyboards), Bennie Maupin (saxophone, clarinet), Harvey Mason (drums), Paul Jackson (bass), and Bill Summers (percussion). Their first album, Head Hunters, sold more than one million copies. For the next album, Thrust, Mike Clark took over as drummer. Both Mason and Clark contributed drums to Hancock's 1975's album Man-Child, which featured 18 musicians.

In 1975, The Headhunters recorded Survival of the Fittest, their first album without Hancock. The album contained a hit, "God Make Me Funky" which was sampled by the Fugees and others. On some re-issues of the album, the band's music is called space funk.

As the 1970s turned to the 1980s, Hancock drifted away from the band as he moved into his electro-oriented phase, and they ceased operation as a visible unit. The band reunited with Hancock for the 1998 album Return of the Headhunters.

Clark, Jackson and Summers have since continued recording and performing as the Headhunters, with varied incarnations, such as Victor Atkins or Robert Walter filling in for Hancock on keyboards, and utilizing Donald Harrison as often as possible. They released an album, Evolution Revolution, for Basin Street Records in 2003, and backed up the saxophonist Rebecca Barry on her 2005 album Rebecca Barry and the Headhunters. They toured again in 2008, with Jerry Z on keyboards and bassist T.M. Stevens, and in 2009 played gigs featuring Geri Allen on keyboards and Harrison on alto, with Richie Goods playing bass.

In 2010 the Headhunters signed with Indianapolis jazz label Owl Studios. They released Platinum, which featured many of the original members of the band with guest spots by Snoop Dogg, George Clinton, and Killah Priest, among others.

Musical style and influences

The Headhunters' music is a complex blend of many styles and genres, including jazz, funk, African and Afro-Caribbean music. The group is also notable for its pioneering use of electronic instruments and effects.

In the sleeve notes to Head Hunters, Hancock wrote that track 3, "Sly", was named in tribute to Sly Stone, leader of Sly and the Family Stone. This band, along with James Brown, is one of the key influences on funk music. As in funk music, the band often built a groove around a bassline; Paul Jackson's deceptively simple licks are frequently the bedrock of Headhunters material, as much as Mike Clark and Harvey Mason's drumming ("Chameleon", the famous opening track of Head Hunters, provides an example of this, although in this case the main bassline is played by Hancock.) Also taken from funk music is the technique of building a complex groove by combining many small but carefully interlocking syncopated contributions.

While straightforward funk depends on a snappy, danceable backbeat from the drummer, Clark and Jackson's interplay danced in and around the groove motif, creating some complex rhythmic patterns. This is arguably best exemplified by the music on Thrust, particularly on the song "Actual Proof".

Early editions of the Headhunters were notable for the absence of a guitarist. All guitar-like parts were handled by Hancock on his first two albums with the group, with one exception: the "rhythm guitar" heard interacting with Hancock's synthesizer bass early in the track "Chameleon" is Jackson playing in the upper register of the bass guitar, as pointed out by Steven F. Pond in his book Head Hunters (2005). Electric guitars were first introduced when DeWayne "Blackbyrd" McKnight appeared on Survival of the Fittest.

Although the Headhunters' albums were often belittled as pop music by jazz critics, it is now widely accepted that they were significantly influenced by, and made a significant contribution to, the "serious jazz" canon. Their music featured extensive solo and group improvisation over chord progressions, just as in the jazz mainstream. Most of the overtly jazz-influenced material comes in the form of solos from Hancock and Bennie Maupin.

A strong connection to African music is evident, with the role of percussion enhanced compared to mainstream jazz, and more extensive exploration of complex polyrhythms compared to most funk.

The Headhunters are also notable for the wide range of instruments they use. Hancock used a myriad of keyboards, from the staple Fender Rhodes electric piano to the Hohner clavinet, as well as being an early adopter of synthesizers, particularly instruments from ARP. Maupin used bass, tenor, alto and soprano saxophones, bass clarinet and bass flute, and oddities such as the Saxello and Lyricon. Unusual choices like beer bottles and the Voice Bag also featured in their instrumentation.

Members

The following members appeared on multiple Headhunters releases: