Herbie Hancock - Fat Albert Rotunda (1969/2015) [Official Digital Download 24bit/192kHz]

"Fat Albert Rotunda" is the eighth studio album released by jazz legend Herbie Hancock. This is the first album the pianist put out under the Warner Bros. Record label, having previously been signed with Blue Note Records. The album was originally created for the TV special "Hey, Hey, Hey, It's Fat Albert".

Centered around some soundtrack music that Herbie Hancock wrote for Bill Cosby's Fat Albert cartoon show, Fat Albert Rotunda was Hancock's first full-fledged venture into jazz-funk – and his last until Head Hunters – making it a prophetic release. At the same time, it was far different in sound from his later funk ventures, concentrating on a romping, late-'60s-vintage R&B-oriented sound. with frequent horn riffs and great rhythmic comping and complex solos from Hancock's Fender Rhodes electric piano. The syllables of the titles alone – "Wiggle Waggle," "Fat Mama," "Oh! Oh! Here He Comes" – have a rhythm and feeling that tell you exactly how this music saunters and swaggers along – just like the jolly cartoon character. But there is more to this record than fatback funk. There is the haunting, harmonically sophisticated "Tell Me a Bedtime Story" (which ought to become a jazz standard), and the similarly relaxed "Jessica." The sextet on hand is a star-studded bunch, with Joe Henderson in funky and free moods on tenor sax, Johnny Coles on trumpet, Garnett Brown on trombone, Buster Williams on bass, and Albert "Tootie" Heath on drums. Only Williams would remain for Hancock's 1977 electric V.S.O.P.: The Quintet album to come. In addition, trumpeter Joe Newman, saxophonist Joe Farrell, guitarist Eric Gale, and drummer Bernard Purdie make guest appearances on two tracks.

Tracklist:

01 - Wiggle Waggle
02 - Fat Mama
03 - Tell Me A Bedtime Story
04 - Oh! Oh! Here He Comes
05 - Jessica
06 - Fat Albert Rotunda
07 - Lil' Brother

Produced by Herbie Hancock. Recording engineer: Rudy Van Gelder.
Recorded May-June 1969 at Van Gelder Recording Studios in Englewood Cliffs, NJ.

Musicians:
Herbie Hancock - piano, electric piano
Joe Henderson - tenor saxophone, alto flute
Joe Farrell - tenor saxophone
Garnett Brown - trombone
Johnny Coles - trumpet, flugelhorn
Joe Newman - trumpet
Buster Williams - electric and acoustic bass
Eric Gale - guitar
Albert "Tootie" Heath, Bernard Purdie - drums


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