Customer Reviews

Return of the Headhunters

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

 

 

Hey guys, can't you judge a thing for what it is? Do you have always to compare a thing to another one to have an idea about it? What kind of approach is it? Moreover different things are not comparable. Like this band and the first HH band. The first headhunters was a certain band. It came out in a a certain period when there was a some kind of electricity around. The idea of mixing jazz and funk was the new idea (Miles Davis did it a lot too) and the electronic instruments were the new things to put to torture test. C'mon. This is a completly different project for a completly different time. 1998 was not 1972! This album should be judged only for what it is. It is greatlyproduced smooth jazz-funk with great musicians involved and good atmospheres and songs. Good sounds too. N'dea Davenport is a great singer. She proved it here well. There is also space for some improvisation like in Premonition. I have the old HH records and this one. I appreciate both but I don't compare them. I enjoy both for their diversities. Why choose?

This is some killer fusion, starting it off with "Funk Hunter". Great funk styles here with everyone. The overdubbed bass licks from Paul Jackson to the solid drumming of Mike Clarke. It appears that most people are unreasonably hard on this project by comparing it to the original "Headhunters" recording released approx. twenty years earlier.
Come on folks, this is a great release for the nineties in the midst of all the hiphop dance music and the grunge sounds too. I honestly thought the "Return of the Headhunters" was released sometime in the later seventies. I was pleasantly surprised to see it was released in 98'. Bennie Maupin's horn work is fantastic. And there is no problem telling what tracks Herbie Hancock plays on as well.
It is nice to hear that Fusion is still being played this way and that these musicians still have the feel and chop to this style of jazz. I study this recording religiously every time I hear it. It never fails me, EVER! Enjoy!

to like this you must be a jazz fan, not spaced out, or edgey like their sesions back in the man child-thrust days but still listenable like i said to like this you must be a light jazz fan, still herbie, and the boys deserves props for being artound this long.

Though the vibe is comparable with Herbie Hancock's underrated 1994 Dis Is Da Drum, he only performs on four of the 10 tracks (Funk Hunter, Shank It, Watch Your Back, PP Head) as a "special guest." But the funk, R&B, world and jazz sounds don't miss a beat with Michael Clark (drums), Paul Jackson (bass), Bennie Maupin (saxophones, bass clarinet) and Bill Summers (percussion).

The cool, sensuous vocals of N'dea Davenport propel Watch Your Back (which also features a rap from Trevant Hardson) and Tip Toe, though the groove in Funk Hunter and Shank It make for a winning exacta box. Keyboardist/pianist Billy Childs takes the helm on six numbers and is particularly solid down the stretch with Two But Not Two, Kwanzaa and 6/8-7/8.

In the speed of light pace of pop culture, it may be hard to fathom that the band came of age when vinyl was king way back in 1973. But the unique album art - comparable with a comic book or B movie poster from the 1950s - is the liftoff for the Headhunters to prove on a new delivery system that they still have a special interstellar overdrive.

It's Headhunters. In the 70's or in the 90's this band has a unique sound, no matter the recording production or technology. This recording was produced in 1997 with an evident "near" acid jazz sound, but it's still a master on the game. It seems that many people wants to hear Chameleon or Watermelon Man over and over again instead of listening the return of a legendary group who aquired more experience with the pass of years. I'm a consumer of acid jazz and I can assure this album overpasses every band I know in the genre, simply because you have real musicians doing what they do best: jazz funk fusion. Songs have all the Headhunters trademarks, like bass-clarinet, all type of percussion, beer-bottle flutes, killer bass grooves and rhodes pianos :). Of course, you must add the amazing keyboard runs of Mr. Hands, which appears on some tracks.
Hey, this CD is awesome.

Looking back on the original Headhunters and Thrust albums, they were seminal to the smooth jazz movement. This album breaks no new ground, but still compares favorably to groups like Yellowjackets and Groove Collective. No one can play like Herbie, even though he was probably rusty on the synth after being back to straight jazz piano. N'Dea Davenport doesn't shine like she did with the Heavies, but she still sounds good. Musicians like variety..that's why their fans are often disappointed when they don't want to revisit old ground.

   Check your review of Return Of The Headhunters by The Headhunters ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 4 out of 5 stars> compaired to original... compared to the orginal headhunter album, this leans more toward smooth jazz, but still is definitely funk. Herbie is not featured anymore and other keyboardists, guitars and vocals are added. The rap seems like it came from my uncle's farm (he grows corn), but the lyrics on the other songs are great. the original was better, but this one is not too inferior.

After a hiatus of several years, the Headhunters--Maupin, Jackson, Summers and Hancock--come back strong and junky funky. Abetted by Patrice Rushen, N'dea Davenport, keyboardists Smith and Childs, the 'Hunters have made a great CD, reminescent of the classic electrofunk/fusion Herbie Hancock breakthrough album "Headhunters". My personal faves are "Funk Hunter", "Premonition", and "Two but not Two".

Best production/recording values of ANY Headhunters release to date. Second best creative effort of any Headhunters release to date: "Survival.." was OUT THERE... like Hancock's Sextet albums(Mwandishi, Sextant, Crossings.. put Julian Priester's "Love, Love" and Maupin's "Jewel Of The Lotus" in there, too!. I also like Henderson's "Sunburst" a lot, but it's different, more like Cannonball Adderly). I digress... "Return.." is a FUNK SATISFACTION album. Not a ton of spacy stuff like "Survival..", but some. Lots of Jackson and Maupin streatching out the not-so-commercial grooves into something more. Lots of solid pieces/performances. I miss Blackbird's crazy distorted guitar solos (which show up on the album "Straight From The Gate"). Also I gotta note, POSITIVE VIBES! These are happy people playing this music!
Overall this is a good solid release. as an ol'fan I'm very pleased with it.

I was deeply disappointed by the so-called "return of the funk" with the Headhunters reuniting with their original lineup. As compared to Herbie Hancock's original "Headhunters" release, the Return of the Headhunters is missing one main ingredient, the grease. This recent release has traded the "grits and gravy" created by the sounds of overdriven analog equipment and early model synthesizers, for over-produced smooth jazz-funk, complete with overused N'Dea Davenport R&B hooks that left this album flat.