Masterpiece by Herbie Hancock from 1971. The album delivers a lovely mix of jazz, funk, fusion and spiritual ideas as well. It’s complex but disarming. The musicianship and compositional skill is at a very high level. The word Mwandishi is Swahili for composer and Hancock adopted that name for himself and also for the sextet featured here together for the first time. The other members also adopted their own Swahili name. And those featured are Hancock on Fender Rhodes, Buster Williams on bass, Billy Hart on drums, Eddie Henderson on trumpet/flugelhorn, Bennie Maupin on bass clarinet/alto flute/piccolo, Julian Priester on trombone. Also present on the first tune only are Leon Chancleron on drums/percussion, José Areas on congas/timbales and Ronnie Montrose on electric guitar.
The album consists of three epic numbers. The first two are written by Hancock and the third by Julian Priester. My favorite is probably ”You’ll know When You Get There”.
It’s when you start exploring the art form on a deeper level that you realize how important that process is, and the treasures you’ll bound to unearth is the reward. A classic titlle for sure, but for me it’s a relatively new delight.
