Sextant

A lot of artists are credited as being avant-garde (especially after they die), but the true innovators in music are pretty rare. Undoubtedly, Herbie Hancock is among the strongest creative forces in jazz and contemporary music of our times. Just before he decided to put together the Headhunters team and re-invent funk with them, he recorded this album, called “Sextant”, which might be one of the earliest forms of electronic dance music (ok, you can’t really dance to it, but hints of contemporary trance elements are here for sure.) It’s sort of a tribal dance ritual from the future. Even the cover depicts ritual dancers set in lunar-like imagery. The music itself is pretty futuristic, considering that the album was recorded in 1972 when electronic instruments were still a novelty. But then again - it’s Herbie Hancock, the genius of our time.

“Sextant” is the eleventh album by Herbie Hancock, and the last album with his Mwandishi Band, with whom he recorded three albums, developing further the concept from Miles Davis’ “In a Silent Way,” the seminal fusion record on which Herbie played an important part. Released in 1973, Sextant was Hancock's first album on Columbia Records and his last with his Mwandishi-era group.