HERBIE MANN — Stone Flute (review)

HERBIE MANN — Stone Flute album cover Album · 1970 · Fusion Buy this album from MMA partners
4/5 ·
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.
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