js 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 Allman Brothers, ha ha.

Sean Trane The little sister of Realization, Inside Out was recorded six months later in the same conditions (Frisco with Drinkwater), but with former WE’s Eric Gravatt replacing RTF’s Lenny White and finding Bill Summers on congas. One of the main differences with IO is that there are more and shorter tracks on the present, when compared to its predecessor, even though Moussaka and the title tracl reach respectively roughly 9-mins each. Other than that’s the general sonics are much the same, maybe a tad more dissonant at times, somewhat contemporary at others (Omnispresence and Exit 1), but the recipe is pretty much unchanged from the older sister’s Realization cooking pan. Gleeson’s electronic twiddlings are again a source of amazement, when not challenged too hard by Eddie Mganga’s sometimes-extreme trumpet playing. Apparently, there appears to have some un-credited electric funky guitar parts in Fusion and in the title track. Musically, the present is a tad more varied in its musical scope.

Sooo, if you want to acquire this album in CD format, you’ll have no choice than to find the 2on1 Capricorn Years Anthology, where Inside Out is coupled with his next album Inside Out, but since these two are very similar in style, you probably won’t mind at all casting two shots from one stone. The only downside to this solution is that one of the two artworks gets sacrificed and that the succession of both albums so similar can be a bit lengthy and too much in one sitting. Personally I tend to prefer the older sister, but let’s face it, the younger one is just as aurally sexy, if not a tad more challenging. Generally seen as the third stooge, the following Sunburst is a fairly different affair, despite part of it still claiming the Mwandishi legacy.

supertwister 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.