js Along with Miles Davis and Eddie Harris, Herbie Mann was one of the most eclectic jazz artists of his time, with albums ranging from pop to avant-garde, any single album can be in a totally unique style that is unlike any of his other albums. 1970’s “Stone Flute” is one such album, as it finds Herbie experimenting with drifting ambience, psychedelic sound and a sense of time suspended. The music on here is very similar to sound experiments that Miles Davis was performing as he was making the tracks that would show up a few years later on “Big Fun” and “Get Up With It”. If Mann didn’t hear any of those sessions, I’m sure he heard the somewhat similar “In a Silent Way”, certainly both artists were trying out similar ideas and approaches as they sought to produce music that hung in the air with a sense of infinite space.

Herbie has a backing band on here, but they are mostly in the background as side one slowly unfolds with Mann’s flute, sometimes double tracked., dominates the proceedings. A time warped version of the Beatles “Flying” is a highlight on this side of the album. Side two opens with the more busy and dissonant free fusion of “Miss Free Spirit”. This track also features the only solo from vibraphonist Roy Ayers who unleashes a torrent of scattered scales. Side two closes with two abstract ballads that put Herbie front and center again. There is no keyboard player listed on the credits, but the sound of held chords on a Lowery organ show up often. There is also a string quartet who are often arranged deep into the mix adding more vague sounds mixing with the other background instruments. If you enjoy Miles spaced out tracks like “He Loved Him Madly” or side four of “Agharta”, you will probably like “Stone Flute” too. This album was very much ahead of its time as it pre-dates more recent efforts by artists like Brian Eno, Bill Laswell and much of today’s nu jazz scene.

js In the early 70s Herbie Mann was on a roll, producing one groovy RnB/jazz record after another and gladly raking in the cash. Herbie was always tops with the fans, and often derided by the critics, for his fun crowd pleasing semi-jazz that was easy on the ears and often great for dancing and partying. Despite the easy approach, some of these records can be quite good, while others tip the scale of commercialism and come across as complete disco fluff. “Turtle Bay” falls right between those two extremes, not a great album, but not too bad either. As is the case with a lot of Herbie’s records, there are some gems buried in the pabulum.

The album opens strong with a great cover of Sly Stone’s “Family Affair”, but then lapses into mediocrity for most of the rest of side one. The watered down pop-reggae of “Never Ending Love Song” is probably the best of the rest on this side. Side two is a little stronger all the way around with a spaced out take on the Allman’s “In Memory of Elizabeth Reed” being the highlight of the album. This cut is a must have for any good acid jazz DJ, and so is the Latin flavored take on Steely Dan’s “Do it Again".

Overall this is a worthwhile purchase for Herbie Mann fans, as well as fans of proto acid jazz and groove based music in general. There are a couple great cuts on here and no outright bad ones, just a few that are a little bland.

js “The Best of Herbie Mann” is a collection that was put out by Atlantic in 1970 that covered Mann’s years with them during the 60s. This was probably the height of Herbie’s popularity and found him playing a lot of RnB/jazz, as well as Latin Jazz. The focus of this LP is Herbie’s most popular songs, and there are some good cuts on here, but overall this is a fairly uneven record. “Comin Home Baby” is probably his most popular song ever and they put two live versions on here that take up about half the record. Its a fun groovy beatnik number in typical Herbie Mann style, but did we really need two versions.

The rest of the album consists of Herbie’s classic “Memphis Underground”, the high energy RnB of “Philly Dogg” and two Latin numbers. Of the two Latin cuts, “This Little Girl of Mine” is a fun blast of sunshine, but its hard to imagine why they included “A Man and a Woman”. First of all the song has been played to death by others and Herbie barely solos on this one either. Of the two versions of “Comin Home”, the first one is cool and relaxed and the second has a bigger band and a stronger Latin flavor. On both versions Herbie turns in excellent lengthy solos.

The best thing about this record is that you can find it in used record stores for very cheap. Its not a bad record for someone looking for a first try at Herbie’s music, and could be useful to a DJ looking for a vinyl version of “Memphis Underground”, but there are certainly better Herbie Mann records out there.

js Herbie Mann was one of the most prolific jazz artists ever and was never one to shy away from trying out the latest trends and styles so that he could record yet one more album. Sometime in the late 60s, in between recording with Middle Eastern musicians and Jamaican musicians, Mann took part of his touring band over to Memphis to record with some local studio RnB musicians. The resultant album, “Memphis Underground” is a decent late 60s RnB instrumental album, but like so much of Herbie Mann’s output, its catchy and hip, but nothing remarkable.

Its an interesting bunch of soloists from his touring band that Mann brought to the session. Vibraphonist Roy Ayers, jazz-rock shredder Larry Coryell and oddest of all, the ear-bleeding noise damage of guitarist Sonny Sharrock, always an odd fit with Herbie’s groovy good-times beatnik vibe, but also a welcome difference too. Sonny is kept in check for most of the album, until the end of “Hold on I’m Comin” where he breaks out his slide guitar fuselage for some noise that I’m sure had some unsuspecting listeners in shock. Most of the songs on here are pretty good except for the lengthy workout on the old anthem for the north during the American Civil War, “Battle Hymn of the Republic”. I’m sure there was some cultural significance to having a bunch of southerners play the northern anthem, but as a piece of music it’s a bore.

One of the best cuts on here is Herbie’s one original. “Memphis Underground”, an excellent groover that mixes laid back Memphis RnB with Jamaican reggae. Of the different soul covers, “Chain of Fools” hit’s the best groove and holds it. If you like Herbie Mann, or this sort of retro 60s proto-acid jazz, you’ll probably want to get this.

Rokukai An overlooked album in the Herbie Mann catalog, Muscle Shoals Nitty Gritty is an essential collision of jazz and soul. A predestined match considering Mann's inquisitive pop spirit, The Muscle Shoals rhythm section plays the perfect foil for Herbie's aggressive flute attack. The horns roll, the piano rollicks, the bass bubbles--just like on the box set you can hear all of the hits they've played on.

In Addition to the Muscle Shoals rhythm section, you have two legendary members of Mann's band--Miroslav Vitous and Roy Ayers. This set oozes soul.

The music? Three Mann originals, one Sonny Sharrock cover, One Beatles cover, one Edwin Birdsong cover. a few up tempo groovers (the title track is a headbobbing stunner), a slow tune or two and the Beatles "Come Together" is played mid-tempo, sort of along the lines of the original. The original is one of my least favorite Beatles tracks, but I really like the jams on this one.



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