Artist: Herbie Hancock Album: Sextant Released: 1973 Recorded: 1972 Genre: Jazz fusion Length: 39:02 Label: Columbia Producer: David Rubinson *** Track listing: 1. "Rain Dance" - 9:16 2. "Hidden Shadows" - 10:11 3. "Hornets" - 19:35 *** Personnel: Herbie Hancock - piano, Fender Rhodes, Hohner D-6 clavinet, mellotron Bennie Maupin - soprano sax, bass clarinet, piccolo, afuche, hum-a-zoo Dr. Eddie Henderson - trumpet, flugelhorn Julian Priester - bass trombone, tenor trombone, alto trombone, cowbell Buster Williams - electric bass, acoustic bass Billy Hart - drums Dr. Patrick Gleeson - ARP 2600 and Pro-Soloist Buck Clarke - percussion *** About the Album: Released in 1973 but recorded in 1972, Sextant was Herbie Hancock's first album on Columbia Records. It was a complex, harmonically and rhythmically challenging musical statement. Hancock was no stranger to electronic music, having used synthesisers extensively during his short time with Warner Bros. Records, but Sextant took his sound to a new level, and arguably pushed the boundaries of the growing jazz-fusion movement further than any of his contemporaries. Sextant was by far the furthest Herbie Hancock ever pushed himself musically. While a select few were collectively wowed by his new approach, Hancock alienated the bulk of his audience, who found his sound extremely inaccessible. Made up of just three tracks, the album makes innovative use of samplers, the first track being quite unlike anything Hancock had done before, but the funkier elements of the album, as found on Hornets, also point toward the commercial success he would enjoy in the 80s with Future Shock and Sound-System, among others. However, with Sextant, commercial success would have seemed a long way away. Ironically, Hancock's first recording on Columbia would be his last recording with his Mwandishi-era group, with Sextant's poor album sales forcing him into the mainstream with Head Hunters.
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