Sextant (album) explained

Sextant
Type:studio
Artist:Herbie Hancock
Cover:Herbie Hancock Sextant.jpg
Released:30 March 1973
Recorded:early 1973
Length:39:02
Label:Columbia
Producer:David Rubinson
Prev Title:Crossings
Prev Year:1972
Next Title:Head Hunters
Next Year:1973

Sextant is the eleventh studio album by Herbie Hancock, released in 1973 by Columbia. It is the last album with the Mwandishi-era sextet featuring saxophonist Bennie Maupin, trumpeter Eddie Henderson, trombonist Julian Priester, bassist Buster Williams and drummer Billy Hart. Synthesizer player Patrick Gleeson and percussionist Buck Clarke also appear.

Background

Released on March 30, 1973, Sextant was Herbie Hancock's first album on Columbia Records, and the last with his Mwandishi-era group. The album showcased Hancock's early adoption of synthesizers and electronic effects.

Upon release, the record was considered to be a commercial flop.

Critical reception

AllMusic called the album a "gem" which features "a kind of post-modal, free impressionism while gracing the edges of funk." Rolling Stone wrote that, "taking his cue from [Miles] Davis' swirling, anarchic Bitches Brew and On the Corner, Hancock went even further into outer space [...] much of Sextant, with its twittering, burbling effects, amounts to a primitive version of Nineties ambient music." The album was called an "uncompromising avant-funk masterpiece" by Paste Magazine.[1]

Personnel

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Jarnow . Jesse . Herbie Hancock: Cafe Curiosity . Paste . 30 November 2023.