Herbie Mann

[JSngry]

25 minutes ago, mjzee said:

There was a Herbie Mann CTI?

The Glory Of Love, might have been A&M/CTI.

But yeah, CTI.

Yeah, here we go:

An interesting mix of people on that one:

Personnel

• Herbie Mann - flute, arranger, conductor
• Hubert Laws - flute, piccolo
• Ernie Royal, Burt Collins - trumpet, flugelhorn
• Benny Powell - trombone
• Joe Grimaldi - saxophone
• Roy Glover - piano, organ, arranger, conductor
• Paul Griffin - piano
• Roland Hanna - organ
• Jay Berliner, Eric Gale - guitar
• Ron Carter - bass
• Herb Lovelle, Grady Tate - drums
• Ted Sommer - vibraphone, percussion
• Ray Barretto, Johnny Pacheco - percussion
• Herb Bernstein - arranger, conductor
• Earl May - bass
• Roy Ayers - vibes

[mikeweil]

17 hours ago, Bill Nelson said:

Glad you mentioned 'Stone Flute' (1970), which has to be inspired by Miles' 'In A Silent Way'.  'SF' s overall sound is unhurried and very inside.  With the help of Roy Ayers, Ron Carter, Sonny Sharrock, and Miroslav Vitous, it's completely atypical of anything else Mann has done.  The string arranging by William Fischer and Selwart Clarke take the music out even further.  Atlantic entrusted Mann with his own label, Embryo, and gave him full creative control on this. 

The organ and piano on this album are manned by none less than Herbie Hancock, who was not credited for contractual reasons. He is listed for one of the sessions in Ruppli's Atlantic Discography.

Herbie had a special contract with Atlantic, allowing him to record a project for other labels every other year that Atlantic didn't want to do, that's how Glory Of Love came into being. 

There is a companion album The Soul Flutes, where he was not credited - some say Hubert Laws was the mystery flutist. Well, I can hear both. Laws was on Glory Of Love, too.

https://www.discogs.com/Soul-Flutes-Trust-In-Me/release/11480826

That vibes player, Henry Watts, doesn't appear anywhere else, could be Roy Ayers.

Edited April 30, 2019 by mikeweil

[Rabshakeh]

The bossa thread elsewhere on this forum mentions a Herbie Mann album that I hadn't previously picked up called "Brazil, Bossanova and the Blues". I've really enjoyed it - a mix of Brazilian styles (not really all bossa) with flute and percussion. 

Other than that, I have never been a huge fan, but his music has followed me around. My father and aunt both talked about him a lot for some reason and, as I used to play the flute myself, Village Gate was one of the first jazz records I bought. 

It seems like he might have had a much larger presence in the jazz world at the time and to have faded from prominence a bit since then.

[GA Russell]

I got for Christmas a bio which I enjoyed.

The Evolution of Mann by Gary Ginell - $4.95
https://www.hamiltonbook.com/the-evolution-of-mann-herbie-mann-and-the-flute-in-jazz-paperbound

[Rabshakeh]

6 hours ago, GA Russell said:

I got for Christmas a bio which I enjoyed.

The Evolution of Mann by Gary Ginell

Was the title “The Descent of Mann” already taken?!

[Rabshakeh]

Actually, I don't think he needed any help with puns, given album titles like Et Tu, Flute? and Great Ideas of Western Mann.

[Teasing the Korean]

I have accumulated quite a number of Herbie Mann LPs over the years,  all for a buck or two, many of which were liberated from the dollar bin at Stereo Jack's. I am drawn to these albums less for the flute playing but rather for the tune selections, arrangements, and overall aesthetics of the albums. 

My favorites all date from the 1950s through roughly the late 60s. I have (or had) several of his 70s albums, but I never feel compelled to return to these. 

Here are some of my favorites:

Machito with Flute to Boot - Roulette: Afro-Cuban jazz.

Johnny Rae plays Herbie Mann's African Suite - UA: Amazing cover art with exotica content on side 1; Later reissued by Solid State under Mann's name with hideous cover art.

Hi Flutin', with Buddy Collette - Premier: Straight-ahead jazz. In stereo, Buddy is in one speaker, Herbie in the other, and the rhythm section is dead center.

Do the Bossa Nova - Atlantic: Self-explanetory.

Brazil, Bossa Nova, & Blues - UA: Self-explanetory.

Impressions of the Middle East- Atlantic: Arrangements by Arif Mardin. An insanely hep album that works equally well for active listening or groovy background music at a party. I posted one of the money cuts on the previous page.

Wailing Dervishes - Atlantic: A companion album to the aforementioned, recorded live, with similar instrumentation.

On 4/29/2019 at 1:06 PM, sgcim said:

He had a huge painting of a dollar bill on his living room wall, it is said...

Perhaps recognizing the perpetual presence of his albums in the dollar bin?

Edited May 19, 2020 by Teasing the Korean

[Dub Modal]

That Great Ideas of Western Mann album is great if you like bass clarinet - that's all he plays on that I believe. 

[Teasing the Korean]

Just now, Dub Modal said:

That Great Ideas of Western Mann album is great if you like bass clarinet - that's all he plays on that I believe. 

What era?

[Dub Modal]

Just now, Teasing the Korean said:

What era?

Recorded in '57 at Capitol LA with Mel Lewis on drums, Jack Sheldon on trumpet, Jimmy Rowles on piano and Buddy Clark on bass

[Teasing the Korean]

Just now, Dub Modal said:

Recorded in '57 at Capitol LA with Mel Lewis on drums, Jack Sheldon on trumpet, Jimmy Rowles on piano and Buddy Clark on bass

This sounds right up my alley. Is it on Capitol?

[Dub Modal]

Just now, Teasing the Korean said:

This sounds right up my alley. Is it on Capitol?

I've only seen the OJC CD but looking at discogs it was a Riverside LP

[Teasing the Korean]

Just now, Dub Modal said:

I've only seen the OJC CD but looking at discogs it was a Riverside LP

Thank you! 

[Dub Modal]

16 minutes ago, Teasing the Korean said:

Thank you! 

Welcome!

That OJC CD has a 13-minute bonus track (Blues for Tomorrow) which apparently has greatly boosted its value. Fresh Sounds put out a reissue with five bonus tracks but of course, not Blues For Tomorrow (wonder why?). 

No LP reissues since '75. 

[Kevin Bresnahan]

3 minutes ago, Dub Modal said:

Welcome!

That OJC CD has a 13-minute bonus track (Blues for Tomorrow) which apparently has greatly boosted its value. Fresh Sounds put out a reissue with five bonus tracks but of course, not Blues For Tomorrow (wonder why?). 

No LP reissues since '75. 

There should be two versions of that OJC CD out there, but truth be told, I never found the corrected version, which has the bonus track, "A Sad Thing" (from the compilation, "Blue For Tomorrow"), and not the track "Blues For Tomorrow". Herbie doesn't even play on "Blues For Tomorrow".

[Dub Modal]

23 minutes ago, bresna said:

There should be two versions of that OJC CD out there, but truth be told, I never found the corrected version, which has the bonus track, "A Sad Thing" (from the compilation, "Blue For Tomorrow"), and not the track "Blues For Tomorrow". Herbie doesn't even play on "Blues For Tomorrow".

Well, that's interesting - tracked that Blues for Tomorrow comp down and looks like Gigi Gryce, Ray Copeland, Trane, Hawkins, Ware & Blakey on the BFT track and the correct line up for A Sad Thing as you mention. The OJC BFT comp looks scarce in the US, more available in the EU. I've never heard of that comp, but it looks like a good one. 

The Fresh Sounds CD actually has the correction to include A Sad Thing among those 5 bonus tracks. 

Edited May 19, 2020 by Dub Modal

[mikeweil]

As I just said in another thread my OJC CD copy (that I received as a replacement) has the correct bonus track and corrected inlay card and booklet.

[sgcim]

8 hours ago, Teasing the Korean said:

I have accumulated quite a number of Herbie Mann LPs over the years,  all for a buck or two, many of which were liberated from the dollar bin at Stereo Jack's. I am drawn to these albums less for the flute playing but rather for the tune selections, arrangements, and overall aesthetics of the albums. 

My favorites all date from the 1950s through roughly the late 60s. I have (or had) several of his 70s albums, but I never feel compelled to return to these. 

Here are some of my favorites:

Machito with Flute to Boot - Roulette: Afro-Cuban jazz.

Johnny Rae plays Herbie Mann's African Suite - UA: Amazing cover art with exotica content on side 1; Later reissued by Solid State under Mann's name with hideous cover art.

Hi Flutin', with Buddy Collette - Premier: Straight-ahead jazz. In stereo, Buddy is in one speaker, Herbie in the other, and the rhythm section is dead center.

Do the Bossa Nova - Atlantic: Self-explanetory.

Brazil, Bossa Nova, & Blues - UA: Self-explanetory.

Impressions of the Middle East- Atlantic: Arrangements by Arif Mardin. An insanely hep album that works equally well for active listening or groovy background music at a party. I posted one of the money cuts on the previous page.

Wailing Dervishes - Atlantic: A companion album to the aforementioned, recorded live, with similar instrumentation.

Perhaps recognizing the perpetual presence of his albums in the dollar bin?

Which is pretty much where they belong.

[JSngry]

Knock him all you want, but Herbie Mann got those gigs, kept getting better gigs, made that money (and that money too!) kept that money, and never had bad bands, no matter what. You show me one other Gold (Platinum?) Record that has Sonny Sharrock on it, ok? And you can hear some pretty nice Fathead over the years by following the Herbie Mann trail. Cat handled his business pretty damn well on and off the stand.

Records are one thing, but doing all that (and having genuine HITS along the way), that's not just business, but it's also the art of business, if not always the business of art.

Render unto Caesar, as they say.

 

[BFrank]

I've been interested in this re-issue that came out a few years ago. Anyone heard the additional tracks?

[jazzbo]

Yes. . . it's a nice sounding release. Good stuff!

[JSngry]

I got it too. Found it enjoyable. That was a good band.

Bruno Carr is what you want.

[felser]

I'll give a third thumbs up for that release.

Edited May 20, 2020 by felser

[DMP]

I caught  Mann many times, in several configurations, and 2 of these occasions stand out as memorable as anything I’ve ever heard. The first, maybe late 1969, he bought in a small group to the staid Carnegie Music Hall in Pittsburgh - Roy Ayers had just left, so it was Sonny Sharrock, Miroslav and Bruno Carr.  Sharrock soloed on every number, the place shook, I don’t think there’s a record that captures what he sounded like live. Not sure that the audience was prepared for it (how could they be?) - unbelievable. The second was at Yankee Stadium, summer of ‘72, part of the Newport Festival. Sharrock was still there, Pat Rebillot and David Newman.  The audience was huge, diverse, pumped up, and Mann had them even before he played - I’ve never been in a more enthusiastic  crowd.  (Pity the group that had to follow - which was the Giants of Jazz!) You can hear it for yourself, the album “Hold On I’m Comin” is mostly from that performance.  Sonny Sharrock at Yankee Stadium! (And one of the least memorable concerts I’ve been to was during his disco phase, where he threw frisbees out to the audience.)

 

 

 

 

[Rabshakeh]

The man had a huge and very varied discography that, for me, is either excellent or terrible, based on the players and concept, but regardless of era or commerciality. Some of his disco records are as good as his bop records.

What are some Herbie Mann "deep cuts" (as the kids say) that you enjoy? Bop, pop, funk, latin or Hebridean.