Herbie Hancock
and
the Headhunters
take to the road in the live double album
Flood
, recorded and released only in Japan. Contrary to the impression left by his American releases at this time,
Hancock
was still very much attached to the acoustic piano, as his erudite opening workout on
"Maiden Voyage/Actual Proof"
with his
funk
rhythm section makes clear. The electric keyboards, mostly Rhodes piano and clavinet, make their first appearances on side two, where
now becomes more of a funky adjunct to the rhythm section, bumping along with a superb feeling for the groove while
Bennie Maupin
takes the high road above on a panoply of winds. Except for
"Voyage,"
the tunes come from the
Head Hunters
,
Thrust
, and
Man-Child
albums (another reason why this was not released in the U.S.).
"Chameleon"
comes with a lengthy outbreak of machine pink noise that attests to
's wide-eyed love of gadgetry. In all, this was a great
band, not all that danceable because of the rapid complexities of
Mike Clark
's drumming, and quite often, full of harmonic depth and adventure. ~ Richard S. Ginell