Switching over to Blue Note, which was then reaping a fortune with
Donald Byrd's R&B outfit,
Eddie Henderson pursued a harder, earthier, more structured, funk-driven sound on his first album, while maintaining some of his marvelously spacier instincts for spice.
Henderson continued to keep several components of
the Herbie Hancock Septet together, for drummer
Billy Hart, bassist
Buster Williams, reedman
Bennie Maupin, and now trombonist
Julian Priester are back. But this time,
Hancock is replaced by
George Duke, and fusionaire bassist
Alphonso Johnson and drummer
Harvey Mason (late of
the Headhunters) are added -- and these switches make much of the difference.
Duke is as much of an techie as
Herbie was; he delights in flaunting his Echoplex and burbling, shooting, twinkling synthesizer effects.
Henderson himself is more into electronic echo and wah-wah effects than before, definitely pursuing the current
Miles Davis line but in a brighter, more tonally brilliant manner, and
Maupin has many impassioned and creepy (on bass clarinet) moments. The title track, a ruminative
Henderson tune with a leaping funk beat, and
Mason's archetypical funk workout "Hop Scotch" are the best cuts. ~ Richard S. Ginell