FLOOD

3.5 stars really!!!

This double live album is the logical chapter recap of HH's HH phase, and Flood is a good but not perfect double live. Graced with an impressive fish & volcano artwork, it features the Headhunters' normal line- up, augmented by Dwayne McKnigth on guitar and of course HH on keys. Well outside the fact that the album exposes HH (the album) in its majority, it doesn't tend to forget Thrust (three tracks) but Man-Child (the latest release at the time) is only present with one track, albeit the 20 mins Hang up.

Not only are the four HH tracks present, but he expands again his Watermelon 60's hit , but also the standard Maiden Voyage (using a Weather Report approach), hinting at HH's future return to more standardized jazz with his VSOP and the now-too chart-minded funk of the Secrets album. Of the Thrust album, three tracks are present: Spank-A-Lee, slowly bringing the jazzy starting concert to a funkier beat affair, Butterfly (where the group tightens-up then starts trancing away and Actual Proof, which has Maupin's flute and Herbie's piano even more upfront.

Well, this double live album is a correct summary of HH's HH years, but it's unfortunate that one album is too little represented. Man Child under-represented is definitely a "faute de gout" that is not that easy to forgive. Hence, the half star taken away.

After Hancock established the route of Funk by "Head Hunters", his creation exceeded the frame of Jazz/Fusion at that time and challenged music by his original line of vision. He is accomplished and the forward music has been accomplished by a musician on friendly terms with considerably reformative music in the route in the 70's.

The listener who kept listening to his music in the item of Jazz/Fusion might have shown a few puzzled to the music that he created. The music of Hancock in the 70's also has the opinion made not to understand whether to enter the item of Jazz if it compares it at the time of Blue Note. It is also true that the anxiety said that he will not play an acoustic piano had infiltrated listener's opinion.

And, to wipe out the anxiety for live, an acoustic piano also took Hancock live. At that time, the sound of electronic music and live was performed for the style of his performance. Styles are consistently united for him. The element with an acoustic electronic element is to say that it is consistent in his style.

It is this album to have offered the listener an overwhelming creation by making good use of all all creations, musical instruments and machine parts. Hancock records the performance of high-quality for the opinion of the listener who says that it will not show an acoustic part to be overturned splendidly live in the album. Of course, when VSOP and Trio, etc. were performed back, Hancock offered the listener an electronic part and the part of the performance of the life. The element of an initial compilation of Electric Hancock ..told album.. has been finished enough this album and. In a word musical instruments and the machine parts that he uses for the creation of the music that he does are to the end one- expression methods and, it might be understood that he has digested music in his consistent style very if it listens to this album through the whole.

As for this album that records the performance in 1975 done in Japan in July in June, the flow of member's ensemble and tune is splendidly really expressed. List selected from headHunters and his representative's past work has a certain kind of flow and perfection. A high-quality performance is announced this time though it has a part incomplete as for "Hang Up Your Hang Ups" guessed to be a new song at that time a little. The tune collected to Thrust also invites the spectator to his world with this live fast Passage. Inter play and member's Inprovisation obviously increases the perfection by performing live. And, the guitar of Blackbird McKnight gives the extension to the performance of Hancock. It dyes in true tunes such as Watermelon Man and Maiden Voyage and it dyes to their colors. I think that it is proof to which the member chosen by headhunters has indeed digested the tune.

The quality of live done after Hancock establishes the route of this Funk is believed that the work has proven the performance without the clarification by this album and the crack of [**] to an electronic part.

Thanks to some apparently super-enthusiastic fan devotion towards certain Western rock acts, the 1970's saw a series of live albums, usually double or even triple-sided, issued in Japan only. Titles included the superb Santana triple-live release 'Lotus'(which ended up being one of the biggest-selling import albums ever) and this lengthy offering from Herbie Hancock recorded during 1975. By this time, Hancock had almost completed his gradual move away from the avant-garde-edged psychedelic afro-fusion sound featured on the likes of 'Sextant' and 'Crossings', instead choosing to develop the popular jazz-funk style found on his seminal 'Head Hunters' album. As a result, 'Flood' proves a mixed bag, with Hancock, in an admirable-yet-misguided move, choosing to reel off a live set that encapsulates the three major stages of his career up until that point, with classical jazz readings, experimental fusion sojourns and bristling funk medleys making up this surprisingly flat two-disc effort. With his Head Hunters outfit in tow - Paul Jackson, Bennie Maupin and Mike Clark all back him with highly-competent yet strangely uninvolving performances - 'Flood' seems like a missed opportunity. Hancock's 1970's studio repertoire is, of course, superb, yet for various reasons he has never been able to truly emulate his complex, funk-dipped sound in the live arena. A prime example, 'Flood' starts slowly, offering up a melodic-yet-dull reading of 'Maiden Voyage' before similarly mediocre versions of 'Actual Proof', 'Watermelon Man' and 'Chameleon' fail to heat proceedings up. So, what you have here then is a highly-talented collection of musicians basically going through the motions, the eclectic set-list actually working against the group. Flat, indulgent and ultimately rather restrained, 'Flood' ranks as one of the most disappointing live documents of the fusion era, and as mediocre an album as Hancock is ever likely to put his name too. STEFAN TURNER, STOKE NEWINGTON, 2012

3.5 stars. I feel like this double live album should be rated a lot higher but I'm not helping here with my 3 stars. Released in 1975 we get seven tracks with two from "Head Hunters" and three from the previous year's "Thrust" making up the bulk of this recording. The music is from two concerts they did in Japan on June 28 and July 1, 1975. A six piece with Hancock, Maupin, Jackson, Summers, Clark and McKnight. So yes we get our share of funk here especially on "Chameleon".

"Maiden Voyage" is a classy tune which really isn't my thing as we get flute and piano dominating. Love the drumming on "Actual Proof" but a top two has to include "Spank-A-Lee" from "Thrust". Maupin makes his presence known early as the guitar comes and goes. Hancock is announced during the song after 3 minutes and proceeds to rip it up on the clavinet. So much going on 5 minutes in to the end. So impressive. "Butterfly" is okay as Herbie announces "A pretty tune for the beautiful ladies of Tokyo." Mellow stuff. The almost 20 minute closer from "Man-Child" called "Hang Up Your Hang Ups" is the other top two. I don't have that album but man I like this track.

It's just not quite a four star record for me and man how good would a live album of their "Mwandishi" period be Mr. Hancock? Would have been pretty awesome, but if your big on the "Head Hunters" period you should enjoy this.