The stuff here is close enough to the basics of why music is to be listened to and appreciated with no musical background of any sort. It’s kind of like not necessarily knowing if you dig ballet, but definitely liking the way the girl across the table moves her hands. No preconceptions, you just dig it.
- Paul Williams, Rolling Stones rock critic on Terry Riley’s In C
I owe a lot of my musical journey to my oldest brother, Paul. He had great taste in music. When I was growing up, I’d always play his albums, and they were all so good. His collection was wide and many of his records would form the cornerstones of my own vast collection. For example, he had: John Mayall’s The Turning Point, which introduced me to the harmonica; Johnny Cash albums, which introduced me to country music; Seatrain, Leo Kottke, and Shawn Phillips albums, which introduced me to folk music; and then he had this strange one:
When I put this one on for the first time, probably in 1976, it blew my mind. I loved the Latin rhythm and the flute. Herbie Mann’s 1973 Verve compilation album Et Tu Fluté turned me on to jazz flute. At the time, I didn’t know anything about jazz, I just knew I loved the sounds.
Later on, around 1978 and 1978, I found a radio station in Minneapolis that played jazz at night from time to time, but it was always the fusion popular back then: Weather Report, Spyro Gyra, Grover Washington Jr., and Bob James. So I came into jazz not from the traditional timeline: Dixieland to Swing to Bebop to Hard Bop, etc. I actually heard Weather Report long before I ever heard Charlie Parker or Miles Davis. I was introduced to the modal music of Herbie Mann before I ever heard Kind of Blue.
In 1985, I would stumble upon Herbie Mann again. I’ll never forget hearing this one:
As I knew Herbie Mann from earlier, I pulled it out of the Jazz stacks at “Ground Zero”.
Here’s the song I like best on this 1969 Atlantic release, the absolute gem My Little Ones:
I did a lot of homework to this song - I should say this album. As I listen to it again, so far along on my journey down that Big River called Jazz, I can’t believe how great this song is. I realize now that his band was stacked with big-time young players Roy Ayers on vibes, Sonny Sharrock on guitar, and, of course, Ron Carter on bass. I had no idea who Ayers and Sharrock were at that time. They were both just starting their long and innovative careers. I find it interesting that they wanted to play with Herbie Mann.
Herbie Mann got his start in jazz in 1953 playing with a little-known accordion player from the Netherlands, Mat Mathews.
Here’s an early Mat Mathews song The Puritan from his 1956 Modern Art of Jazz by Mat Mathews on the Dawn label, with Herbie Mann on flute and a nice Pettiford bass solo near the end:
Along with Herbie Mann, notice all the great musicians on this album, many of whom were on Oscar Pettiford’s classic Oscar Pettiford Orchestra In Hi-Fi, which was recorded for ABC-Paramount a few months earlier:
Herbie Mann’s first album as a leader was recorded in 1955 on the Bethlehem label and titled simply Herbie Mann.
His band was a pianoless quartet that featured just guitar, flute, bass, and drums. However, for this segment on our journey, I want to focus on just three classic Verve albums recorded during three years that I think define Herbie Mann as one of the great jazz innovators: The Magic Flute of Herbie Mann (1957); Flautista (1959); and Flute, Bass, Vibes, & Percussion (1961).
Although Wayman Carver owns the distinction of being the first jazz flutist, Herbie Mann is the first jazz musician to devote himself exclusively to the flute. In 1957, Norman Granz produced Verve’s first flute album: The Magic Flute of Herbie Mann.
Here’s Peanut Vendor from that album:
This album brought Herbie Mann to the attention of the jazz scene. According to Mann, “When I formed my first group, it was just guitar, flute, bass, and drums. The people liked it, but they couldn’t identify too much with flute in jazz. This was in ‘54 - ‘55. The minute I added the conga drums and played the same tunes, they said, ‘Oh yeah.’”
After honing his Afro-Cuban skills working in Machito’s Afro-Cuban Jazz Ensemble, he recorded Flautista in 1958.
Here’s a nice track from that album, Come on Mule, with Mann surprisingly not playing flute, but rather the bass clarinet:
A notable addition to this band is the bass player Knobby Totah. An extremely underrated bassist worthy of wider recognition in the jazz world.
Finally, in 1961 Mann recorded perhaps my favorite of his albums, Flute, Bass, Vibes, & Percussion.
Here is Autumn Leaves from the album that features a nice, long arco bass solo by Knobby Totah.
I think what makes Herbie Mann so interesting is that he was much more than a superior craftsman - much more than just a flutist. He was one of the first adopters of world music. He embraced the music, sounds, and rhythms that appealed to him and used them to broaden his playing and enrich his appeal. His music touched many people who never knew anything about jazz or the jazz tradition - they just liked what they were hearing. Isn’t that what music is all about?
Here’s one more for the road, also from Flute, Bass, Vibes, & Percussion, and my favorite Herbie Mann song: You Stepped Out Of A Dream - the song that really grabbed me the first time I heard it way back in 1976 on Et Tu Fluté:
Next week, on that Big River called Jazz, we’ll explore deeper the backwaters of another small, but significant, record label of the 1950s, the Dawn record label.
If you like what you’ve been reading and hearing so far on our journey and would like to share this with someone you think might be interested in learning more about our great American art form: Jazz, just hit the “Share” button at the bottom of the page. Also, if you feel so inclined, become a subscriber to my journey by hitting the “Subscribe” button here:
Also, find my playlist on Spotify: From Fred Astaire to Sun Ra.
Feel free to contact me at any time to talk shop. I welcome and encourage that….
Until then, keep on walking….
Holy fluta-moly what an introduction into something cool. Merci