INSIDE OUT

Herbie Hancock's psychedelic fusion masterpiece, Crossings, was such a powerful work that it practically inspired an entire musical movement, albeit one that was short lived, but a movement that brought us many excellent progressive jazz recordings. Like Crossings, Eddie Henderson's Inside Out features top notch innovators such as Bennie Maupin on reeds, Hancock on keyboards and Patrick Gleeson on synthesizer, but is missing one key player; producer David Rubinson. The more I listen to the various spin-off groups from Herbie's Sextet, the more I'm convinced that Rubinson is the key to Crossing's superb sound, lay-out and compositional flow. Some of the production problems on Inside Out include a bass that is too loud and persistent, and a drum mix that is vague and muddy because it favors snare and crash over everything else. With a little better production this album could have been a masterpiece.

From a musical perspective this record is top-notch. All the elements you would expect from this collective are here: brilliant woodwind and muted horn orchestrations, abstract melodies that mirror mid-20th century composers, Gleeson's unique synthesizer plus echo tone colors that sound like no one else, polyrhythmic percussion, and of course Herbie who always brings his Debussy meets Africa tonal palate and rhythms to any project. On this album he expands his Fender Rhodes into an electronic orchestra by manipulating it through an echoplex, often blending with Pat Gleeson's roving ARP 2600.

One cut that caught my ear was Discoveries, on which drummers Eric Gravalt and Billy Hart play in a rapid persistent militaristic fashion that predates the 80s innovations of Ronald Shannon Jackson. Another reccomended piece is album closer Exit 1, which is a slowly unfolding melody sans percussion on which all the musicians blend into an orchestral type sound somewhere between Scriabin and Sun Ra. Overall this album is highly recommended for folks that enjoy Hancock's Sextet and it's many spin-off groups, or anyone who likes progressive psychedelic jazz fusion from the early 70s. It's interesting to note that this is on the Capricorn label, I wonder if Eddie did any opening sets for the Allmans, ha ha.

Like Eddie Henderson's debut this is very much in the "Mwandishi" spirit as we once again get Herbie Hancock's sextet, but instead of additional drum help from Lenny White, this time it comes from Eric Gravatt. Eric played with WEATHER REPORT and is on their first live album. I have to mention as well that Terry Bozio stated that the first time he saw Eric drum in San Fransisco it changed his life, he had never seen that kind of intensity from a drummer before. We also get some congas from Bill Summers, who was one of the "Headhunters". Eddie writes all but two of the tracks just like on the debut. Bennie Maupin wrote the first and last track on this album.

"Moussaka" opens with spacey sounds and flute. It changes before a minute as drums, horns and bass take over. It settles then kicks back in before 3 minutes. Piano from Herbie after 4 minutes. "Omnipresence" is a short tune with piano melodies as horns play over top. The horns eventually take over as the drums rumble.

"Discoveries" is laid back but it's building. Great sound 2 minutes in.Intense. It does settle back down. There is so much going on in the next track "Fusion" as the trumpet plays over top. Excellent tune. "Dreams" opens with bass as horns come and go. The drums are outstanding here. Piano comes and goes too. "Inside Out" is the title track and the longest one at almost 9 1/2 minutes. Nice bass intro as a beat comes in with horns and keyboards. The bass shines throughout. "Exit #1" has some atmosphere to it as it slowly plays out.

Not as good as the debut but it's certainly a 4 star album. Man these guys had an adventerous spirit, willing to be experimental and different from the norm.

Henderson's second solo album was recorded in October 1973, only half a year after his brilliant "Realization". The line-up remained unchanged but for the drum position, this time occupied by Eric Gravat and Billy Hart. The rest of the band are his Mwandishi cohorts, Herbie Hancock included.

The music is still of the psychedelic experimental kind but the change in drummers brought in more groove. At times the rhythms almost sound like 90s drum&bass dance music. Henderson's trumpet is the main soloing instrument and it transports these intricate break-beat rhythms to higher, almost spacey realms. The dazzling opener is a perfect representative of the new style and one of the most accomplished pieces of the album.

The second half of the album starts with the more experimental "Dreams", a more free-jazz inclined piece that provides a welcome variation to the more accessible and funkier material around it. The word "funky" must be taken with a grain of salt though, don't expect the heavily syncopated rhythms of the title track in a club near you any time soon.

I must admit I had neglected this album at first; it is issued on 1 CD with the dazzling "Realization" and after hearing that masterpiece I rather choose for a bit of silence rather then another 40 minutes of just slightly less amazing material. But that's not fair, it's entirely excellent in its own right.

The end of Herbie Hancock's Mwandishi-era team lineup is officially an Eddie Henderson album due to Eddie's leadership (initiative, funding, and role as principle composer), and it's another great one. (The next of Eddie's album's, 1975's Sunburst, again has a great lineup of young and seasoned jazz musicians--including Bennie Maupin and George Duke--but there is a radical shift in musical styles toward a more radio- and sales-friendly "smooth" or "funky/disco" jazz fusion that became popular in the mid-70s.) Recorded in San Francisco in October of 1973, the album wasn't mastered and released until 1974--long after Herbie had called it quits on the head-in-the-clouds, atmosphere- exploring Mwandishi septet. (Herbie recorded his first album with a new funk/R&B lineup of four in September, 1973. The album, Head Hunters, was released on October 13 or October 26 [depending on sources] to become the biggest selling jazz album of all-time--until George Benson's Breezin' laid claim to that title in 1976.) How the recording sessions for Inside Out happened after Herbie had dismantled the Mwandishi septet and after he had already recorded his new pop-oriented album is a mystery to me. If any one out there knows how this happened, please let me know!

1. "Moussaka" (8:59) Patrick Gleeson and Bennie Maupin get first crack at opening this album: it sounds like the real- time sounds of a sunrise. At the end of the first minute Buster Williams' bass and Bill Summers congas start us off on a journey across the desert but then we slow way down as if to examine the scenery from some carapace high up above the desert floor. But then at 2:40 the journey recommences--exactly the same way it began at the one minute mark-- this time allowing Eddie time to solo with his muted cornet. Then Herbie gets a turn in the fifth minute with his Fender Rhodes. Such a nice Caravanserai groove going beneath it all. Eddie retakes the reins with a muted flugelhorn at 5:30. A second track is given to Eddie for the intermittent dipersal of flourishes from his unmuted trumpet until at 7:30 that instrument takes the lead where he is joined by a legion of other horn and wind instruments (Obviously Eddie, Bennie, and Patrick have become enamored of multi-track overdubbing.) (18/20)

2. "Omnipresence" (2:14) another display of circling instruments that sounds/feels like the presence of something. The two drummers are busy as Eddie and the rest fill the cauldron with more ingredients in order to make the soup. (4.375/5)

3. "Discoveries" (5:08 ) multiple horns are tracking while Buster and the drummers are providing a kind of DEODATO version of "A Love Supreme" but then things veer right and we've got a more train-like cannonball racing downhill so that Bennie's clarinet, Herbie's clavinet and Fender Rhodes, Patrick's burbling saw synths, and Eddie's trumpets (muted and unmuted) can weave their off-set flourishes of melody. Very interesting and progressive. The music on this album is definitely exploring new, expanded ideas of what is linear and how melodies can be delivered by all of the instruments of a large ensemble while being out of sync with one another. I like this one more for its innovation than its engaging qualities. (8.875/10)

4. "Fusion" (3:33) a veritable continuation of the previous song (there is no break between the two) sees a shift in the rhythm track coming from both the bass and drums. Over the top Eddie, Bennie, and Herbie manage the melody delivery with subtle collaboration and admirable discipline. (8.875/10)

5. "Dreams" (7:21) drums and bass going rogue while the lead instruments hold the melody together simultaneously and smoothly. Interesting! The recording and engineering is so perfect: with every subtle sound captured and balanced gently into the mix. I can't recall hearing a jazz album on which each song's soundscape is so egalitarianly distributed. Rather amazing. And beautiful! (14/15)

6. "Inside Out" (9:25) It's Buster again to lead the way out of the gates. Drummers and clavinet follow as Eddie's horns and Bennie's tenor saxophone start their own journeys. Clavinet gets a little "me" time before multiple horns give a loosely banked MILES-like pepper spray--a pattern of delivery that Eddie continues to reinforce with his own first foray as sole soloist. This is a really fun song to listen to while paying attention to any and every one of the individual musicians--listening for their subtle expressions of unrepressed individuality. In the sixth minute Bennie gets the second extended solo with his tenor sax. I like the relaxed length of times given between soloists. Herbie's wah-ed Fender Rhodes gets the next solo, filling the eighth minute. Bennie and Eddie come squawking out of the pond like two geese (or more as each is given multiple tracks) to try to cut Herbie off but Herbie just continues on with both his Fender Rhodes soloing and his clavinet (multi-tracked or played simultaneously?)Very cool song to listen to over and over. (19/20)

7. "Exit #1" (2:54) the bookend opposite of the album's opening four minutes: this must be the sunset. Perfect! (5/5)

Total Time: 39:34

The music on this album is so much more experimental, feeling innovative on several fronts, than any of the previous Mwansishi-era albums. While not as melodic, the weaves are incredibly complex for the fact that it feels as if each individual musician has been set loose on his own path and journey with the same map and destination but with the freedom to follow their own independent paths and means to get there. It's really a breath-taking and marvellous to watch (and listen). If this isn't the peak of the experimentalism that was the spirit and intent of the Mwandishi albums, then I don't know what is.

A/five stars; musically this may be a minor masterpiece but to my ears there are developmental things going on here that, for me, proclaim an evolutionary jump in the progress of jazz-rock fusion--a jump that is in direct opposition to the pervasive tendency toward favoring smooth audience accessibiliity over mathematical and creative exploration and experimentation.