EDDIE HENDERSON

Urban space funk fusion

In keeping with my recent crush on all things Mwandishi, I thought it was about time Eddie Henderson received his fair slice of the pie. I think it rather strange, that albums such as Sextant and Crossings are held in high esteem - both of them ornamenting the top 20 of the fusion chart, when Realization, whilst still boasting the same players ie Herbie Hancock, Billy Hart, Bennie Maupin, Pat Gleeson, Buster Williams, and Lenny White - gets next to nothing in terms of marketing. The fact of the matter is, that just like many other people who visit the forum here, I too learned of this album through Greg(Logan. The man with a thing for Sean Connery in red leather), who has been promoting this record ever since the battle of Waterloo.

For those of you who are into the Mwandishi sound, that is highly experimental fusion not unlike that you'd encounter on a Miles Davis album from around the same time, then you should be placing your order of this one right now. Realization is undeniably part of the big powerful and abstract boom of skilled jazz musicians breaching out in whatever psych/funk/rock constellation that sounded good to them. It's deep jungle music this - it throws you into the hot perspiring trance mode - jigging, swaying, bouncing and bobbing. Especially on this very release, you get the gist of what Herbie later on would crystallize in form of Head Hunters. The funky feel just shines through - making Realization one of the more easy approachable Mwandishi albums - at least according to my ears. Though not entirely funk per se, the way the drums and bass intertwine, compliment each other and just flat out zoom, writhe, contort and heave the actual rhythm side of things is downright masterly.

The trumpet of Henderson is easy recognisable. It stutters majestically on top of the proceedings - cockadooodling wildly over the music like an inspired rooster at sun-dawn. All through Realization the trumpet is never far away, either spreading some light whispering notes over loosely played electric piano bits - or up front in your face pachyderm warning calls. Teamed up with a definitively more spacey expression than Maupin's Jewel in the Lotus - much credited to Gleeson's murky and worming electronics, Realization roams an altogether different part of this band's explorations. It isn't as avant guarde as the former though, which again points towards my initial thoughts about Realization: This one should indeed be a no-brainer, if one is considering checking out a Mwandishi record. It is by far the most welcoming of the lot - even more so than Crossings.

If any of you people should feel interested in trying out fusion with a distinctive spacey funk vibe to it - one that is performed by some of the most gifted musicians, then Realization is an easy bet. I listen to it whilst driving, chilling, making dinner, working out - or just when I'm making my way down the streets of the city, highly intoxicated by the wondrous kick I get out of this urban jungle music flowing through my body, all the while I'm sniffing in the cool of the night, the smell of gasoline - bobbing along to the city beat like a real life McCoy hooked on jazz rock and the starry night city groove.

'Sunburst' is Henderson's third album and the first that he released after the 1972 'Mwandishi' sessions that led to his first two albums. The line-up still features various members from the Mwandishi line-up, bar notable absentee Herbie Hancock. The music is quite different though. The year is 1975 and fusion had lost much of its edge and experimentalism, and as a result lost much of it appeal for me.

This album largely follows the main taste of the day, with funky fusion and shorter 'catchy' compositions, at least compared to the free-jazz based improvisations and psychedelic sound of the early 70's. There are still some traces of Henderson's earlier spacey sound, the title track and 'Galaxy' are excellent examples. Also his emotive trumpet playing remained intact. But the main part of the album can be put in the section 'energetic funk fusion with brilliant musicianship'. And by brilliant musicianship I never mean dazzling solos or 'speed of light' finger exercise, but rather the concentrated and dynamic interplay that the band achieved here. Some of the tracks weigh a bit too light for me though, and despite their obvious qualities, I can go without easier going pieces like 'Hop Scotch' or 'Involuntary Bliss'.

I believe this is a very good album from its era but compared to Henderson's previous album I will need to settle for 3.5. Recommended if you want a more accessible introduction to Henderson's superb trumpet playing.

Henderson's second solo album was recorded in October 1973, only half a year after his brilliant "Realization". The line-up remained unchanged but for the drum position, this time occupied by Eric Gravat and Billy Hart. The rest of the band are his Mwandishi cohorts, Herbie Hancock included.

The music is still of the psychedelic experimental kind but the change in drummers brought in more groove. At times the rhythms almost sound like 90s drum&bass dance music. Henderson's trumpet is the main soloing instrument and it transports these intricate break-beat rhythms to higher, almost spacey realms. The dazzling opener is a perfect representative of the new style and one of the most accomplished pieces of the album.

The second half of the album starts with the more experimental "Dreams", a more free-jazz inclined piece that provides a welcome variation to the more accessible and funkier material around it. The word "funky" must be taken with a grain of salt though, don't expect the heavily syncopated rhythms of the title track in a club near you any time soon.

I must admit I had neglected this album at first; it is issued on 1 CD with the dazzling "Realization" and after hearing that masterpiece I rather choose for a bit of silence rather then another 40 minutes of just slightly less amazing material. But that's not fair, it's entirely excellent in its own right.

— First review of this album —

Eddie Henderson's tribute to one of his strong influence - trumpeter Lee Morgan. All the team is of highest quality,sound is pure acoustic, and compositions are played not too far from originals.

What means - excellent jazz band plays hard-bop and post-bop jazz and it sounds almost like it would be year 1965, not 1995. Very few soul elements added don't change the sound radically.

It's not easy to speak about such release there - even according to modern jazz standard (for 1994, year of release) such music should be tagged as vintage. For PA, pure acoustic post- bop is far from any relation with jazz fusion at all.

So - album obviously for jazz lovers only. But if you like such music - this release is really good!

Eddie Henderson's solo debut was excellent fusion album, one between best that genre releases of all time. Two years (and one album) later recorded " Sunburst" is really good album, but not on the same league.

Some line-up changes happened; there is no more Herbie Hancock on board (he is replaced by very capable keyboardist George Duke, but not the same league as well). Between other newcomers you can find Julian Priester on reeds and new electric bassist Alphonso Johnson. Still a very "star" line-up!

Music there is similar to their debut, but main (and important) change is funky rhythms. For sure, it was common trend in early 70-s, and Eddie Henderson's record isn't exception. But as result they loosed spacey and slightly psychedelic atmosphere for the favor of funk (same happened with Hancock's solo albums as well). But with that changes music missed part of its magic, became possibly more accessible, but not such excellent. Somewhere on second album's part you will hear even openly cheesy compositions!

Good album, but far from excellent debut and strong second album! My rating is 3+.

Realization is the first of two Eddie Henderson albums that were recorded by the Mwandishi band, known from Herbie Hancock's highly acclaimed early 70s albums. Only the drummer got substituted. The music is very similar to that on Crossings and Sextant , and features very elaborate psychedelic jazz fusion.

The main difference with the albums released under Hancock's name is the focus on Henderson's trumpet playing. Clearly influenced by Miles Davis, Henderson blows our breath away with his emotional strikes and stabs on the instrument, expressing pain as easily as joy or sadness. The rhythm section provides a very involved and engaging backbone, that, just like the Hancock albums, borders on funk but is still too complex and stubborn to groove as easily as later and more accessible mid 70s fusion albums.

Talking about gems, this one takes the cake. And best of all it's easy and cheap to get as it is paired with Henderson's other Mwandishi album Realization on one CD that I bough for a mere 6.55£. Easily my best bargain in years.

I honestly believe Hancock's "Mwandishi" Trilogy's albums are possibly the best jazz fusion recordings ever. "Realiztion" is the album ,played by the same Hancock's Mwandishi team, with RTF drummer Lenny White only added. The main difference between albums released under Hancock's name and Eddie Henderson's solo is that there on this album Eddie is soloing trumpeter on the front of the sound.

Music in general is very in Mwandishi key with spacey keyboards, slightly psychedelic sound, excellent musicianship of all collaborators (including great Lenny White drumming) and Miles Davis inspired Eddie Henderson trumpet soloing. In fact, you can think about this album's music as Mwandishi with soloing trumpeter recordings.

The time is right for such experimental jazz fusion, and all musicians are on the top of their technical and artistic form. So - you have there absolutely great album, must have release for any listener, interested in best ever jazz fusion music for his collection.Masterpiece!

Like Eddie Henderson's debut this is very much in the "Mwandishi" spirit as we once again get Herbie Hancock's sextet, but instead of additional drum help from Lenny White, this time it comes from Eric Gravatt. Eric played with WEATHER REPORT and is on their first live album. I have to mention as well that Terry Bozio stated that the first time he saw Eric drum in San Fransisco it changed his life, he had never seen that kind of intensity from a drummer before. We also get some congas from Bill Summers, who was one of the "Headhunters". Eddie writes all but two of the tracks just like on the debut. Bennie Maupin wrote the first and last track on this album.

"Moussaka" opens with spacey sounds and flute. It changes before a minute as drums, horns and bass take over. It settles then kicks back in before 3 minutes. Piano from Herbie after 4 minutes. "Omnipresence" is a short tune with piano melodies as horns play over top. The horns eventually take over as the drums rumble.

"Discoveries" is laid back but it's building. Great sound 2 minutes in.Intense. It does settle back down. There is so much going on in the next track "Fusion" as the trumpet plays over top. Excellent tune. "Dreams" opens with bass as horns come and go. The drums are outstanding here. Piano comes and goes too. "Inside Out" is the title track and the longest one at almost 9 1/2 minutes. Nice bass intro as a beat comes in with horns and keyboards. The bass shines throughout. "Exit #1" has some atmosphere to it as it slowly plays out.

Not as good as the debut but it's certainly a 4 star album. Man these guys had an adventerous spirit, willing to be experimental and different from the norm.

I became aware of this project by Eddie Henderson through of one of Logan's polls.Thankyou again Logan. I must admit I was surprised to see the lineup on this album, I mean it's the same "Mwandishi" band lineup that released 3 albums under Herbie Hancock's name. The only difference here is that Eddie is calling the shots, although both Hancock and Maupin composed tracks here as well. There's no question the style of music here is of the same spirit as those 3 "Mwandishi" albums, plus throw in a Miles Davis flavour and you can imagine how good this is. I should mention that drummer Lenny White is the only non-Mwandishi member playing on this record. Man this is adventerous music though. Pat Gleeson with his crazy synth work along with Henderson and Maupin blasting away on their horns. Herbie adds electric piano, clavinet and organ.The drumming is outstanding and the bass is right in your face at all times.

"Scorpio-Libra" opens with cymbals, bass and keyboards as horns blow over top.The sound becomes pretty intense. Check out the drums and bass 6 minutes in. Spacey synths end it. This music is so hard to describe because it's ever changing as different instruments come and go. "Mars In Libra" opens with chunky bass, drums and horns standing out. Check out Maupin and Henderson going at it. So much going on here. How intense is this 3 minutes in. Synths follow.

"Anua" is the first non-Henderson composition.This was created by Maupin. It's laid back to start and takes a while to get going. Flute here too. Horns and synths eventually change this mood. Piano comes to the fore 4 1/2 minutes in. The synths are crazy. It turns back to that laid back sound to end it. Cool tune. "Spiritual Awakening" is a short 2 1/2 minute tune that is spacey with horns coming in later. "Revelation Realization" is Herbie's composition. Horns, bass, drums and spacey synths lead the way. A spacey calm settles in around 5 minutes and stays to the end.

Easily 4 stars.The more I concentrate on this music the more impressed I get.

With a careless misclick of the button, I lost a very long and detailed review. This one will be shorter (not Wayne Shorter, though he is also excellent), or at least less detailed. I would not have guessed that it would have taken "Realization" to realize the importance of writing such stuff first using a program such as Word which saves one's wordiness.

"Realization" is my favourite Eddie Henderson album, one of my favourite "Mwandishi players" albums, and I consider it to be an essential Fusion album. The music blends funk, modal jazz, and cosmic "spacey" music/ electronics, in an exhilarating fashion. It is finely nuanced, and while the music is very busy at times, there is space for the music to breathe. It is a stunning effort by Eddie Henderson, as well as those that joined him.

All of the players are in top-notch form, and Henderson is, I think, one of the finest trumpeters in Fusion -- sadly he is not as widely recognised as I think he deserves. To think that music was a side-line for him as he was also a medical doctor. This album, and other albums of his, was not commercially successful at the time, and was largely forgotten and neglected until the later release on CD (his "Anthology" compilation with this and "Inside Out" has been excellently remastered and is well worth getting), There has been some quite recent surge in interest in Henderson's early music by dubbers. His music has been sampled quite extensively -- rub-a-dub-dubbed by DJ George "Dubya" Bush; now there's a thought, lame though it is. In fact, a great many terrific Fusion works are being sampled/ dubbed these days).

This album comes from a really innovative and exciting time in Fusion, and stands, I feel, amongst the very best of its ilk. Other players that Henderson was acquainted with, including the Mwandishi band (see Herbie Hancock's "Mwandishi", "Crossings", and "Sextant") were also releasing amazing material. I see this album as a spin-off or extension of the "Mwandishi" work, and this is a "Mwandishi" band effort (which is not to underplay Henderson's importance to the project under his name). Aside from shared members who came together to work with the former Mwadishi member Henderson, musically it falls into that category. Aside from Hancock's influence (as well as other Mwandishi members), I think Gleeson's work cannot be understated in giving it that cohesive Mwandishi sound (as in the "Crossings" and "Sextant" parts of the Mwandishi album trilogy -- the fusion of electronics).

This is an absolutely essential album for those who like Herbie Hancock and friends Mwandishi trilogy. Aside from "Crossings", "Sextant", and "Mwandishi", albums with a musical relation to "Realization" worth getting include: - Eddie Henderson - "Inside Out" (if you don't have Anthology, Vol. II), and "Sunburst". - Julian Priester's fantastic "Love, Love" and his "Polarization". - Bennie Maupin - "The Jewel in the Lotus" and "Slow Traffic to the Right". - Buster Williams - Pinnacle. and Norman Connors - "Dance of Magic" and "Dark of Light".

Lenny White, who performed on this album, released to my mind one of the most stunning Fusion albums with "Venusian Summer", though he has other excellent works too. Billy Hart's "Enchance is good", and, though different, Pat Gleeson's electronic explorations in "Beyond the Sun" are very good.

Of course mentors to Henderson such as Miles Davis and Freddie Hubbard should need no introduction, but if they both do, you have wonderful discoveries ahead.

A word of warning: I don't recommend "Realization" to those who can't take their jazz more adventurous than Kenny G.