Herbie Hancock
Mr. Hands

Joy of living. Herbie Hancock has always conveyed to me the joy of living, that deep kind that comes from the heart. This album from 1980 is for me a joyful and above all beautiful album.

The first track, "Spiraling Prism", immediately catches attention with a very unique bass line by Byron Miller, which at first almost got on my nerves, but I learned to appreciate after several listens. Beautiful is the arrangement of the keyboards/synth by Herbie and his piano phrasings. The second track is the most beautiful of the bunch, here you just have to kneel before the beastliness of the well-tested combo Tony Williams/Ron Carter/Herbie Hancock (with Sheila Escovedo on percussion), or even better, you have to stand up and dance to the rhythm of this "Calypso", precisely. Here too, the bass (or rather, double bass) takes the lead, and how could it not when a certain Mr. Carter is playing it?

"Just Around The Corner" is 7 minutes and 34 of pure funk, with Freddie Washington's bass in great form, well supported by Alphonse Mouzon (that is, not just anyone) on drums, Sheila Escovedo on percussion, and Wah Wah Watson on guitar. The latter gives us a beautiful solo, just listen to his beginning from 00:35 to 00:50, always supported by great work from Herbie on keyboards, who then gives us a textbook piano solo. Ecstasy.

The fourth piece, "4 AM", is characterized by the harmony of keyboards and electric bass, here played by God (i.e., Jaco Pastorius). Excellent is the drumming by Harvey Mason, which supports the classic solo/accompaniment lines of Jaco, on which Herbie glides gracefully, who could not ask for a better partner for a funk track. In the fifth track ("Shiftless Shuffle"), we encounter the original Headhunters lineup (Hancock, Bennie Maupin, Harvey Mason, Paul Jackson, Bill Summers), and it is the leader who dominates with a fantastic piano solo that stands out against the excellent rhythmic foundation of Mason/Jackson, with the drummer in the foreground. Surprising groove.

"Mr. Hands" concludes with "Textures" written and played entirely by Herbie. The piece itself is good, especially regarding the theme and the bass, but it pales a little compared to masterpieces like "Calypso" and "Just Around The Corner".

In conclusion, this is an excellent album, the last of those purely funk/jazz fusion before Hancock blended his sound with R&B. As is normal in a funk-inspired album, the rhythmic section takes the lead, with top-tier and renowned names. Beautiful in particular are the bass lines, which never disappoint in any of the six tracks. And then there's Herbie. Many things have been said about this man, I can only repeat that besides being a musical genius like few others, he is a person who has always conveyed to me real and profound joy of living.