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. ~ Richard S. Ginell