Customer Reviews

Dis Is Da Drum

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Herbie Hancock is the master of fusion and this album proves it. In this case the fusion is jazz with african percussion rhythm and a super-funk bottom end of bass guitar and bass keyboards. If you're scared of funk stay away! This album is even better on a digital system with a good subwoofer -- some of the lows are lost on less robust speakers.

Here is Herbie, again showing us who listen to the drum, that there is nobody in american music who is as tuned in to the original african pulse as he is. This album is a masterpiece, and if there is a future, and if there are critics who look back several hundred years from now, and say this is good and this is bad, my estimate is that they're going to say that this is the best example of african-inspired jazz during this period. From the perspective of the moment, it has a slick commercial feel to it, but hold on, how else can one get the sound out to the kids? The harmonic structures of these tunes are subtle and cool, just listen to the bass turnaround on bo ba... (ending on the 7th) and you'll see. This is the best, five stars. I'm buying several copies and sending it to my friends!

Now, many may object to the 5 stars Yea, it's not really JAZZ, but music doesn't come any funkier than this. Every cut cooks. But, jazz purists should stay away. This is hip-hop/funk at its best and Herbie at his funkiest.

From the outset I must say, Headhunters album was the "single" most major influence to me becoming interested in jazz and electronic music (synthesizers, etc.- I have a home studio). Herbie keeps on surprizing everyone. I'm not a jazz purist, rather, an eclectic when it comes to music. Maybe that's why I can enjoy so much of what Hancock has done electrically over the past 28 years.

Dis Is Da Drum presents some of the old (a simply BEAUTIFUL remake of the "Thrust" album's "Butterfly" with exquisite use of the clavinet and minimoog and the warp-speed acoustic piano riff at the end of "Mojuba") and the new "Shooz" and "the Melody". Everything else is right "in the pocket" with a steady groove for driving on the highway or pumpin' off pounds on the stairmaster.

I have had all of Herbie's electric albums and CDs. This one ranks very high (I'd like to rank it a 4.5). He is truly a genius of piano and a master of keyboard wizardry.

This CD continues to find it's way to my stereo on a regular basis. If I am "really" feeling good I grab the "Headhunters" and "Thrust" CDs to play as well... DIDD is very enjoyable and highly recommended!

My all time favorite Hancock funk stuff. Great audio quality. I wish the "acid jazz" groups would listen to how it should be done.

I am admittedly a late bloomer when it comes to Herbie Hancock. I became familiar with him when I was eight years old when he released "Rockit." I had no idea he was a jazz legend or a great keyboardist; all I knew is that "Rockit" was a great song to breakdance to, and the video, although creepy, was amazing. However, as I got older, I purchased more of his older works, including Headhunters, Maiden Voyage, and his works with Chick Corea. Needless to say, I was amazed at his skill and his ability to adapt to any musical genre--truly a "chameleon."

I had heard quite a bit about Dis is Da Drum, and I finally decided to give it a listen. While mixing funk, jazz, hip hop, and African dance is a bold move for any artist, Hancock curiously decides to play it safe. He finds a groove and just sticks with it. There are no solos, riffs, or chord changes that make your jaws drop. Instead, it sounds like an eclectic jam session. There are a few standout cuts on this album. "Hump," for example, is a funky, jazzy romp. Herbie and company seem to be having the most fun on this particular piece. "Butterfly" is a masterpiece; Hubert Laws' flute work really enhances the track. "Bo Ba Be Da" could have been considered a classic had Hancock decided to cut loose. However, his subdued piano work actually brings an otherwise great track down a few notches.

Musically, Dis is Da Drum could be groundbreaking. The rhythm and vocal arrangements are top notch. Credit producer Bill Summers for his vision, but this album desperately needs a little more of that oomph that Hancock is known for.

This was the first CD i ever bought, at the age of 6, it got stashed in my cuboard for avery long time and at about the age of 13 i started loving it, this is a must have one of the funkiest cds you will find anywhere, classy jazz mixed with african drumming and a fresh different tone color. Anyone who denies the brilliance of this album should realisticly recieve a beating from herbie himself. Well worth the money...

This is one of the few CDs I absolutely couldn't live without. I was fascinated to see a few negative reviews of it, but to each his own. Nevermind the fact this won a Grammy. I thoroughly enjoy nearly every track on here for a variety of reasons, first of which is it is just downright funky. I know most critics dismiss many later works (such as those of my idol, Miles) as lacking whatever pops into their heads as they type, but take my word for it...just listen to the samples here and decide for yourself. The fact is, Herbie is an utter maestro on the keyboard (along with Ramsey Lewis and a few others). I think most of you will love this particular CD, but it's up to you.

This CD is a classic and a personal find for me. It's loaded with funk bass lines, but ones which lay back instead of commanding attention. There is so much music here - instruments, players, rhythms, and of course Herbie, whose solos are often beautifully understated - but it all hangs together in cuts with simple goals: making the listener cool out, bob his head, and mostly, add a few ticks to the volume on a summer day with the windows down. It is definitely Da One you'll keep in the car, and listen to again and again.

I was first treated to this magic CD by a friend who popped it into my machine and sat back to watch my reaction. I was chatting away, when, suddenly the most awesome sounds grabbed me by the soul, and I COULD NOT BELIEVE MY EARS ... IT WAS SO INCREDIBLY GRIPPING MY CONSCIOUSNESS I COULDN'T DO ANYTHING BUT SHIVER WITH DELIGHT AND REPEAT "WOW!" OVER AND OVER, THROUGHOUT EACH FASCINATING TUNE TIL THE END! My friend chuckled as he watched me glow with the ecstasy of my first hearing it! Of course, for me, there really never was an end ... I pushed the repeat button, and it became the only album I could listen to for weeks ... 'enough' just wasn't in my vocabulary for this incredible masterpiece! I resist categorizing this particular album -- it's in a realm all its own, and I can't remember ever hearing anything that resembles it for originality and hypnotic effects on the pscyche! My respect for my friend's taste in music leaped into stellar domain, and if his intention was to impress and please me that night ... well, he sure scored big time! This is GORGEOUS stuff ... top of my favorites! Herbie, to me, is at his most inspired peak of genius, here! It's the kind of masterpiece that leaves you wishing you could have been a privileged guest at the recording sessions that produced it. WOW!!! Five stars just could not describe the thrills! This is music for sharing ... pleasure that endears and endures!!!