The Top 50 Jazz Musicians of All Time

Jazz: Top 50 Acts

These are the top 50 jazz artists of all time according to Dave’s Music Database. The term “jazz” is used to incorporate instrumental jazz performed by small ensembles, big band jazz, vocal jazz, and traditional pop. That means this list includes musicians, singers, and band leaders. The list was determined by aggregating 17 best-of lists. Those acts appearing on 3 or more lists were re-ordered based on overall status in Dave’s Music Database. See other lists of Acts/Music Makers by Genre. 1. Frank Sinatra 2. Benny Goodman 3. Louis Armstrong 4. Glenn Miller 5. Nat “King” Cole 6. Duke Ellington 7. Billie Holiday 8. Ella Fitzgerald 9. Miles Davis 10. Fats Waller 11. Bessie Smith 12. Artie Shaw 13. Count Basie 14. John Coltrane 15. Woody Herman 16. Herbie Hancock 17. Nina Simone 18. Thelonious Monk 19. Charles Mingus 20. Sarah Vaughan 21. Charlie Christian 22. Ferdinand “Jelly Roll” Morton 23. Charlie Parker 24. Dizzy Gillespie 25. Teddy Wilson 26. Dave Brubeck 27. Art Tatum 28. Lionel Hampton 29. Erroll Garner 30. Bill Evans 31. Stan Kenton 32. Oscar Peterson 33. Django Reinhardt 34. Max Roach 35. Stan Getz 36. Wes Montgomery 37. Sonny Rollins 38. Coleman Hawkins 39. Bud Powell 40. Scott Joplin 41. Keith Jarrett 42. Lester Young 43. Art Blakey 44. Ornette Coleman 45. Cannonball Adderley 46. Wayne Shorter 47. Benny Carter 48. John McLaughlin 49. McCoy Tyner 50. Jimmy Smith Resources/Related Links: Dave’s Music Database: Lists of Acts/Music Makers by Genre Dave’s Music Database: Top 50 Jazz Albums of All Time Dave’s Music Database: Top 100 Jazz Songs of All Time First posted 12/23/2011; last updated 3/8/2026.

The Top 50 Jazz Albums of All Time

Jazz: The Top 50 Albums

24 lists focused on jazz albums were aggregated to create this list. Those albums featured on 2 or more lists were then sorted by overall points in Dave’s Music Database. Other jazz albums not appearing on the lists were factored in as well. Check out other best-of-genre/category lists here. 1. Miles Davis Kind of Blue (1959) 2. Norah Jones Come Away with Me (2002) 3. John Coltrane A Love Supreme (1965) 4. Miles Davis Bitches Brew (1970) 5. George Gershwin, Ira Gershwin, & Dubose Heyward Porgy and Bess (1935) 6. Frank Sinatra Songs for Swingin’ Lovers! (1956) 7. Bessie Smith The Essential (compilation: 1923-33, released 1997) 8. Louis Armstrong The Complete Hot Five and Hot Seven Recordings (box set, recorded 1925-28, released 2000) 9. Glenn Miller Glenn Miller (aka “Glenn Miller & His Orchestra”) (compilation: 1939-42, released 1945) 10. Dave Brubeck Time Out (1959) 11. Norah Jones Feels Like Home (2004) 12. Stan Getz & João Gilberto Getz/Gilberto (recorded 1963, released 1964) 13. Henry Mancini The Music from Peter Gunn (soundtrack, 1959) 14. Duke Ellington The Blanton-Webster Band (box set: 1939-42, released 1990) 15. Benny Goodman The Complete Legendary Carnegie Hall Concert (live, recorded 1938) 16. Ornette Coleman The Shape of Jazz to Come (1959) 17. Herbie Hancock Head Hunters (1973) 18. Miles Davis & Gil Evans Sketches of Spain (1960) 19. Miles Davis Birth of the Cool (recorded 1949-50, released 1957) 20. Charles Mingus Ah Um (1959) 21. Sonny Rollins Saxophone Colossus (1956) 22. Eric Dolphy Out to Lunch! (1964) 23. Bill Evans Trio Sunday at the Village Vanguard (1961) 24. Miles Davis In a Silent Way (1969) 25. John Coltrane Giant Steps (recorded 1959, released 1960) 26. Duke Ellington At Newport (live, 1956) 27. Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Cole Porter Songbook (1956) 28. Henry Mancini Breakfast at Tiffany’s (soundtrack, 1961) 29. Bill Evans Trio Waltz for Debbie (live, 1961) 30. Charlie Parker The Complete Savoy & Dial Studio Recordings (box: 1944-48, released 2000) 31. Weather Report Heavy Weather (1977) 32. Charles Mingus The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady (1963) 33. Erroll Garner Concert by the Sea (live, 1955) 34. Thelonious Monk Genius of Modern Music, Vol. 1 (recorded 1947, released 1951) 35. Mahavishnu Orchestra The Inner Mounting Flame (1971) 36. Thelonious Monk Brilliant Corners (1956) 37. The Quintet (Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, Bud Powell, Charles Mingus, & Max Roach) Jazz at Massey Hall (live, 1953) 38. Jamiroquai Travelling Without Moving (1996) 39. Miles Davis & Gil Evans Miles Ahead (1957) 40. Louis Armstrong & Earl Hines Louis Armstrong and Earl Hines (compilation: 1928-29, released 1989) 41. Oliver Nelson Blues and the Abstract Truth (1961) 42. George Benson Breezin’ (1976) 43. Norah Jones Not Too Late (2007) 44. Duke Ellington Far East Suite (1966) 45. Ornette Coleman Free Jazz: A Collective Improvisation (1960) 46. John Coltrane Blue Train (1957) 47. Herbie Hancock Maiden Voyage (1964) 48. Keith Jarrett The Köln Concert (live, 1975) 49. Wayne Shorter <9>Speak No Evil (1964) 50. Dizzy Gillespie The Complete RCA Victor Recordings (compilation: 1937-49, released 1995) Resources and Related Links: Dave’s Music Database: other best-of-genre lists First posted 4/13/2011; last updated 3/15/2024.

The Top100 Keyboardists/Pianists of All Time

Keyboardists/Pianists: Top 100

This is one of the DMDB’s most diverse best-of lists, with everything from classical (Beethoven, Mozart) to jazz (Dave Brubeck, Herbie Hancock) to R&B (Ray Charles, Stevie Wonder) to pop/rock (Billy Joel, Elton John) to progressive rock (Keith Emerson, Rick Wakeman). As always, DMDB lists are determined by an aggregation of multiple lists. See other lists of Acts/Music Makers by Categories. 1. Franz Liszt 2. Art Tatum 3. Vladimir Horowitz 4. Chick Corea 5. Thelonious Monk 6. Bill Evans 7. Frederic Chopin 8. Sergei Rachmaninoff 9. Ludwig van Beethoven 10. Oscar Peterson 11. Dave Brubeck 12. Duke Ellington 13. Ray Manzarek 14. Josef Hoffman 15. Keith Emerson 16. Herbie Hancock 17. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart 18. McCoy Tyner 19. Ahmad Jamal 20. Earl Hines 21. Billy Joel 22. Count Basie 23. Keith Jarrett 24. Erroll Garner 25. Richard Wright 26. Glenn Gould 27. Sviatoslav Richter 28. Tommy Flanagan 29. Red Garland 30. Horace Silver 31. Fats Waller 32. Bud Powell 33. Jelly Roll Morton 34. Wynton Kelly 35. Jon Lord 36. Gene Harris 37. Jordan Rudess 38. Rick Wakeman 39. Arthur Rubenstein 40. Gregg Rolie 41. Stevie Wonder 42. Alfred Cortot 43. Elton John 44. Steve Winwood 45. Jonathan Cain 46. Claudio Arrau 47. Teddy Wilson 48. George Shearing 49. Al Kooper 50. Martha Argerich 51. Alfred Brendel 52. James P. Johnson 53. John Paul Jones 54. Ray Charles 55. Billy Taylor 56. Nicky Hopkins 57. Andre Previn 58. Arturo Bendetti Michelangeli 59. Jan Hammer 60. Henry “Hank” Jones 61. Willie “The Lion” Smith 62. Nat “King” Cole 63. Billy Powell 64. Hampton Hawes 65. Ron “Pigpen” McKernan 66. Patrick Moraz 67. Bobby Timmons 68. Neal Doughty 69. Janne Warman 70. Tony Banks 71. Walter Gleseking 72. Robert Schumann 73. Sonny Clark 74. Billy Preston 75. Liberace 76. Phineas Newborn Jr. 77. Brian Eno 78. Gregg Allman 79. Evgeny Kissin 80. George Duke 81. Eubie Blake 82. Mose Alison 83. Mary Lou Williams 84. Rod Argent 85. Dennis DeYoung 86. Michael Petrucciani 87. Paul Bley 88. Kerry Livgren 89. Kenny Drew 90. Richard Tandy 91. Brad Mehldau 92. Don Airey 93. Geoff Downes 94. Alicia Delarrocha 95. Marc-Andre Hamelin 96. Roy Bittan 97. Mike Pinder 98. Robert Lamm 99. Vince Guaraldi 100. Joe Sample Resources/Related Links: Dave’s Music Database: Lists of Acts/Music Makers by Categories First posted 5/14/2017; last updated 1/26/2022.

Dave's Music Database Hall of Fame: Albums (May 2021)

Originally posted 5/22/2021. January 22, 2019 marked the 10-year anniversary of the DMDB blog. To honor that, Dave’s Music Database announced its own Hall of Fame. This month marks the tenth group of album inductees. These are the among the top twenty jazz albums of all time, excluding previous inductees Miles Davis’ A Kind of Blue, Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess, Bessie Smith’s The Essential, Louis Armstrong’s Complete Hot Five and Hot Seven Recordings, Glenn Miller’s Glenn Miller, Henry Mancini’s Music from Peter Gunn, Duke Ellington’s The Blanton Webster Band 1939-1942, and Benny Goodman’s Carnegie Hall Jazz Concert. See the full list of album inductees here.

Frank Sinatra Songs for Swingin’ Lovers (1956) Inducted May 2021 as “Top Jazz Albums.”

“Sinatra’s albums for Capitol introduced the singer’s album, the concept album and the grown-up album all at once.” RC On this album, the focus from Ol’ Blue Eyes and conductor/arranger Nelson Riddle was “on churning out up-tempo dance versions of standards.” SHS Read more.

Duke Ellington At Newport (1956) Inducted May 2021 as “Top Jazz Albums.”

After an unsuccessful stint at Capitol Records, Duke Ellington re-established himself “as a vitally popular jazz artist” AMG with At Newport, a recorded of his appearance at the Newport Jazz Festival in 1956. The original album release was “almost fully manufactured, recorded in a studio with crowd madness dubbed in” AB but four decades later, a tape of the original Newport set saw the light of day, reviving the “set in its organic glory.” AB Read more.

Charles Mingus Ah Um (1959) Inducted May 2021 as “Top Jazz Albums.”

Ah Um “is a stunning summation of the bassist’s talents and probably the best reference point for beginners…Mingus’ compositions and arrangements were always extremely focused, assimilating individual spontaneity into a firm consistency of mood, and that approach reaches an ultra-tight zenith” AMG on Mingus’ debut for Columbia, a Grammy Hall of Fame and National Recording Registry inductee. Read more.

Ornette Coleman The Shape of Jazz to Come (1959) Inducted May 2021 as “Top Jazz Albums.”

This “was a watershed event in the genesis of avant-garde jazz, profoundly steering its future course and throwing down a gauntlet that some still haven’t come to grips with. The record shattered traditional concepts of harmony in jazz, getting rid of not only the piano player but the whole idea of concretely outlined chord changes.” AMG The album was Coleman’s debut with Atlantic and has been inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame and National Recording Registry. Read more.

Dave Brubeck Time Out (1959) Inducted May 2021 as “Top Jazz Albums.”

“Dave Brubeck’s defining masterpiece, Time Out is one of the most rhythmically innovative albums in jazz history…Brubeck’s record company wasn’t keen on releasing such an arty project, and many critics initially roasted him for tampering with jazz’s rhythmic foundation. But for once, public taste was more advanced than that of the critics.” SH Read more.

Stan Getz with João Gilberto Getz/Gilberto (1963) Inducted May 2021 as “Top Jazz Albums.”

“One of the biggest-selling jazz albums of all time, not to mention bossa nova’s finest moment.” AMG “It’s one of those rare jazz records about which the purist elite and the buying public are in total agreement.” AMG Getz/Gilberto brought “two of bossa nova’s greatest innovators – guitarist/ singer João Gilberto and composer/ pianist Antonio Carlos Jobim – to New York to record with Stan Getz. The results were magic.” AMG The Grammy winner for Album of the Year featured The Girl from Ipanema, “one of the biggest smash hit singles in jazz history.” AMG Read more.

John Coltrane A Love Supreme (1965) Inducted May 2021 as “Top Jazz Albums.”

John Coltrane’s A Love Supreme is “widely considered his masterpiece.” WK Jazz critic Tom Hull called it “the most perfectly plotted single piece of jazz ever recorded.” WK It is also “easily one of the most important records ever made” JI in any genre. Techno-DJ Moby said it “is probably oe of the most beautiful and sublime recordings of the twentieth century.” AK-xvi Read more.

Miles Davis Bitches Brew (1970) Inducted May 2021 as “Top Jazz Albums.”

“Inspired by the visionary work of James Brown, Jimi Hendrix, and Sly Stone, Miles Davis began incorporating funk grooves and electronic instruments into his music – first with the languid, contemplative In a Silent Way…and then on…Bitches Brew.” TL The latter is “thought by many to be the most revolutionary album in jazz history, having virtually created the genre known as jazz-rock fusion.” TJ Read more.

Herbie Hancock Head Hunters (1973) Inducted May 2021 as “Top Jazz Albums.”

“Perhaps the defining moment of the jazz-fusion movement (or perhaps even the spearhead of the Jazz-funk style of the fusion genre), the album made jazz listeners out of rhythm and blues fans, and vice versa.” WK “Hancock had pushed avant-garde boundaries on his own albums and with Miles Davis, but he had never devoted himself to the groove as he did on Head Hunters,” STE an inductee into the Grammy Hall of Fame and National Recording Registry. Read more.

Norah Jones Come Away with Me (2002) Inducted May 2021 as “Top Jazz Albums.”

In 2003, Norah Jones won Grammys for Best New Artist, Album of the Year for Come Away with Me, and Record and Song of the Year for the album’s lead single, “Don’t Know Why.” The album topped the Billboard album chart and sold 27 million worldwide. “Though its surprising success…overwhelmed it, this seductively modest little record is a marvel of mood and invention. The songwriting and arrangements are sophisticated, often jazzy, yet full of catchy hooks. And Jones’ vocals are silken and perfectly turned, setting a seamless mood that could soundtrack high-end restaurants and low-rent make-out sessions alike.” RS’11 Read more.

Why the Grammys Matter

Originally published in my "Aural Fixation" column on PopMatters.com on February 18, 2013. See original post here. So your favorites didn’t win, huh? Get over it. Bashing the Grammys is too easy. Try recognizing them as markers of what is happening in the music industry, not on your iPod. The day after the 2012 Grammys, an NPR article debating the award ceremony’s merits found its way onto my Facebook feed (“Question of the Week: Be Honest – Do You Care About the Grammys?”, 11 February 2013). As Jacob Ganz notes, “cataloging the Grammys’ flubs has become easy sport,” yet he answers his question with “a surprising yes.” Wait – what? How could any self-respecting journalist part with the widely-held belief that “the Grannys” are out of touch and irrelevant? Didn’t this guy get his Music Journalism 101 handbook? It clearly spells out what anyone writing about music is supposed to hate: pop music made for and by teens and tweens, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, bands that sell out and, most of all, the Grammys. After all, this is the organization which made such notorious flubs as giving a Best New Artist trophy to Milli Vanilli and deciding to break in its hard rock category by bypassing Metallica in favor of Jethro Tull. The judges thought it made more sense to give Song of the Year to Roger Williams’ “Little Green Apples” than The Beatles’ “Hey Jude”. Heck, this is the organization which gave Tony Bennett’s 1994 MTV Unplugged the lofty Album of the Year prize. Indeed, there are some embarrassing chapters in the Grammy history book. However, more often than not, the Grammys get it right. Well, maybe not 100 percent right, but more right than wrong. Let’s look at just the last decade’s Album of the Year winners (parentheses indicate year it won, not year of release): Mumford & Sons Babel (2013) Adele 21 (2012) Arcade Fire The Suburbs (2011) Taylor Swift Fearless (2010) Robert Plant and Allison KraussRaising Sand (2009) Herbie Hancock River: The Joni Letters (2008) Dixie Chicks Taking the Long Way (2007) U2 How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb (2006) Ray Charles Genius Loves Company (2005) OutKast Speakerboxxx/The Love Below (2004)

The most popular criticism of the Grammys is that it leans toward safe, middle-of-the-road picks. Most of these albums can be spun at a dinner party without riling the guests. Even OutKast, arguably the edgiest act on this list, is bound to produce smiles when “Hey Ya!” kicks in. However, this isn’t just a list of music for 40somethings and beyond. Adolescents caught with Arcade Fire and Mumford & Sons on their iPods aren’t going to become pariahs. No matter how mainstream Adele and Taylor Swift are, can anyone reasonably argue they don’t deserve golden trinkets to decorate their fireplace mantles? Another common complaint levied specifically at the Album of the Year prize is that it’s more of a career achievement award. That certainly has happened – does anyone really think Hancock’s River or Charles’ Genius are the pinnacles of their careers? Doesn’t it seem silly that the former beat out Amy Winehouse’s Back to Black and Kanye West and that the latter triumphed over Green Day, Usher, Alicia Keys, and, well, Kanye West? Sorry, Kanye. None of these are for Album of the Year; image from smokingsecion.uproxx.com However, most of these albums were significant releases representative of a surprisingly wide array of genres including folk, British blue-eyed soul, rock, country, Americana, jazz, R&B, and rap. Cynics may whine that none of these albums represent their genre at its best. Sure, Taylor Swift may be categorized as country, but she’s more pop. U2 may be the biggest rock band in the world, but they hardly represent the edgiest stuff the genre has to offer. These albums, however, may well open up the average music fan to stretch his or her music palette. Detractors are fond of screaming “The Grammys are just a popularity contest!” Uh, yeah. That’s kind of the point. The Recording Academy isn’t generally trying to tout the next big thing – unless it’s crowning Esperanza Spalding Best New Artist like a couple years ago. Its members are understandably looking to boost the profiles of already familiar properties. The ideal candidates mix critical acclaim and an “it” factor along with commercial clout. It should be no surprise that the Grammy powers-that-be aren’t aiming to spotlight your local club’s favorite Saturday night bar band as the best in its field. One of the biggest flaws behind the average person’s arguments regarding awards shows, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, or assessments of who should and shouldn’t get radio airplay comes down to this: people are baffled when the rest of the world doesn’t share their musical tastes. It also wouldn’t hurt to remember that when Mumford & Sons takes home the big one, their fans who have been with them since the beginning had their dreams come true – the rest of the world did catch on to their personal tastes.  Reflect on the Grammys of yesteryear and there are signs that things have changed. Look at the ‘80s. It was the decade of the blockbuster and the Grammys were doled out accordingly. Phil Collins, Whitney Houston, Michael Jackson, George Michael, Lionel Richie, and U2 all produced memorable Album of the Year pop chestnuts, but were far from edgy picks which would challenge the average music listener to open up to a “new” kind of music.    Maybe you didn’t root for Mumford & Sons or Adele the last couple years. Maybe you have no use for them at all. However, they are flag bearers for some of the most significant directions for music in recent years. Along with success for the Mumfords comes exposure for The Lumineers, Alabama Shakes, The Avett Brothers, and The Decemberists – and maybe a dip of the toe into the musical folk-rock pond which spawned them. People who champion Adele might also try Amy Winehouse, Duffy, Joss Stone, Florence + the Machine, or other artists indebted to the blue-eyed soul of Dusty Springfield a generation ago.  That’s the context in which to judge the Grammys. They are markers of what is popular today and what is trending for tomorrow, but they can also serve as links to the musical past. Complain and whine about the awards if you wish, but as for Jacob Ganz’s question “Do You Care About the Grammys?” I reply with a resounding Yes!

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The First MTV Video Music Awards

September 14, 1984 The First MTV Video Awards

Barely three years old, MTV launched its first video music awards in 1984. They handed out the awards on September 14 at New York’s Radio City Music Hall in a show hosted by Bette Midler and Dan Aykroyd. Surprisingly, the big winner of the night was not one of the beloved ‘80s superstars who owed a debt to the power of visual presentation, but a jazz artist born in 1940 who started making music in the 1960s. Herbie Hancock’s ground-breaking and unusual video for “Rock-It” received eight nominations and won Best Concept Video, Most Experimental Video, Best Special Effects, Best Art Direction, and Best Editing. The other most-nominated video of the night was “Every Breath You Take” by The Police. It would only take home the prize for Best Cinematography. The song, however, would go on to rank in the top 5 of all time according to Dave’s Music Database and tops the list of Radio’s Most Played Songs in History. Cyndi Lauper was the most nominated artist of the night with nine nominations – six for “Girls Just Want to Have Fun” and three for “Time After Time.” She took home the prize for Best Female Video for “Girls Just Want to Have Fun.” The Cars received six nominations for “You Might Think.” They only took home one Moon Man award (the nickname for the astronaut statuette inspired by MTV’s then logo), but it was the biggie – Video of the Year. Michael Jackson – the man who may have most benefited from MTV – was nominated for six awards for “Thriller,” winning for Best Overall Performance, Best Choreography, and Viewers’ Choice. It tops the Dave’s Music Database list of The Top 100 Videos of All Time. Other awards went to David Bowie (Best Male Video for “China Girl”), the Eurythmics (Best New Artist for “Sweet Dreams Are Made of This”), and Van Halen (Best Stage Performance for “Jump”). ZZ Top took home the prizes for Best Group Video (“Legs”) and Best Direction (“Sharp Dressed Man”). Bowie and ZZ Top were among the night’s performers, which also included Huey Lewis & the News, Ray Parker Jr., Rod Stewart, Tina Turner, and – most notably – Madonna. She launched her first single, “Like a Virgin,” from her sophomore album with a much-talked about performance in which she emerged from a wedding cake and writhed on the floor in a risqué wedding dress. It was arguably the moment when she became a superstar. Note: six of the videos which won awards that night appear on the DMDB list of the top 100 videos of all time: “Thriller” (#1), “Every Breath You Take” (25), “Girls Just Want to Have Fun” (29), “Sweet Dreams Are Made of This” (34), “You Might Think” (40), and “Rock-It” (43). For more important days in music history, check out the Dave’s Music Database history page. Resources and Related Links: Dave’s Music Database: “History Index” Dave’s Music Database: “The Top 100 Videos of All Time” MTV: 1984 Video Music Awards Wikipedia: 1984 MTV Video Music Awards First posted 9/14/2012; updated 9/10/2023.

Herbie Hancock Head Hunters released

Head Hunters Herbie Hancock

Released: October 13, 1973 Charted: January 12, 1974 Peak: 13 US, 2 RB Sales (in millions): 1.0 US Genre: acid jazz

Tracks: Song Title (date of single release, chart peaks) Click for codes to charts. Chameleon (2/23/74, 18 RB) Watermelon Man Sly Vein Melter Total Running Time: 41:52 The Players: Herbie Hancock (electric piano, clavinet, synthesizers) Bernie Maupin (saxophone, saxello, bass clarinet, alto flute) Paul Jackson (bass guitar, marimbula) Havey Mason (drums) Bill Summers (percussion)

Rating: 4.605 out of 5.00 (average of 15 ratings) Quotable: “Its genre-bending proved vastly influential on not only jazz, but funk, soul, and hip-hop.” – Stephen Thomas (Erlewine, All Music Guide Awards: (Click on award to learn more).

About the Album: “Perhaps the defining moment of the jazz-fusion movement (or perhaps even the spearhead of the Jazz-funk style of the fusion genre), the album made jazz listeners out of rhythm and blues fans, and vice versa.” WK “Hancock had pushed avant-garde boundaries on his own albums and with Miles Davis, but he had never devoted himself to the groove as he did on Head Hunters. “Head Hunters followed a series of experimental albums by Hancock’s sextet: Mwandishi (1970), Crossings (1971), and Sextant (1972), released at a time when Hancock was looking for a new direction in which to take his music.” WK “Hancock assembled a new band, The Headhunters, of whom only Bennie Maupin had been a sextet member. Hancock handled all synthesizer parts himself (having previously shared these duties with Patrick Gleeson),” WK a move which brought “the instrument to the forefront of jazz.” WK Chameleon boasts “an instantly recognisable intro, the very funky bassline being played on an ARP Odyssey synth. Vein Melter is a slow-burner, predominantly featuring Hancock and Maupin, with Hancock mostly playing Fender Rhodes electric piano, but occasionally bringing in some heavily effected synth parts.” WK Hancock also “decided against the use of guitar altogether, favouring instead the clavinet, one of the defining sounds on the album.” WK With its “deeply funky, even gritty, rhythms,” STE a “tight rhythm and blues-oriented rhythm section and…relaxed, funky groove,” WK the album’s “rhythms were firmly planted in funk, soul, and R&B,” STE showing the influences of artists such as “Sly Stone, Curtis Mayfield, and James Brown.” STE For example, “Sly was dedicated to pioneering funk musician Sly Stone, leader of Sly & the Family Stone.” WK The new sound “gave the album an appeal to a far wider audience;” WK “at the time of the 1992 CD reissue it was the largest-selling jazz album of all time.” WK However, the album still maintained “all of the sensibilities of jazz, particularly in the way it wound off into long improvisations.” STE “Jazz purists, of course, decried the experiments at the time, but Head Hunters still sounds fresh and vital decades after its initial release, and its genre-bending proved vastly influential on not only jazz, but funk, soul, and hip-hop.” STE “Of the four tracks on the album Watermelon Man was the only one not written for the album. A hit from Hancock’s hard bop days, originally appearing on his first album Takin’ Off, it was reworked…and has an instantly recognisable intro featuring Bill Summers blowing into a beer bottle, an imitation of the hindewho, an instrument of the Mbuti Pygmies of Northeastern Zaire. The track features heavy use of African percussion.” WK

Resources and Related Links: DMDB encyclopedia entry for Herbie Hancock STE Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide WK Wikipedia First posted 4/13/2011; last updated 3/15/2024.