Mwandishi: The Complete Warner Bros. Recordings

While Herbie Hancock’s ebullient and groovy first album for Warner Bros. was a funk-jazz classic, his second is equally revered for different reasons. First released in 1970, it’s more experimental and abstract, with spacy keyboard sounds and wide-open rhythms. Hancock is joined by bassist Buster Williams (the only holdover from the last album), trumpeter Eddie Henderson, trombonist Julian Priester, drummer Billy Hart, and Bennie Maupin on bass clarinet and flute. The idea is to improvise collectively off a melody without the anchor of chord progressions. Dedicated to political activist Angela Davis, “Ostinato (Suite for Angela)” has a 15/4 Afro-funk vamp anchored by Williams, which makes for a nice bridge from the last album to this new direction. “You’ll Know When You Get There” starts with a lovely Hancock melody and seems to float along on the winds of the different players\' ideas. Further out is the slow-building “Wandering Spirit Song,” which was written by Priester but owes a debt to Miles Davis’ *In a Silent Way*.