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Herbie Hanccock: Dis is da drum

 A l b u m   D e t a i l s


Label: Verve Records
Released: 1994:05.23
Time:
 61:11
Category: Jazz
Producer(s): Herbie Hancock, Bill Summers
Rating: ********.. (8/10)
Media type: CD
Web address: www.herbiehancock.com
Appears with: Chick Corea, Jack de Johnette
Purchase date: 1999
Price in €: 15,99



 S o n g s ,   T r a c k s


[1] Call It '95 (Griffin/Hancock/Robertson/Smith/Summers) - 4:39
[2] Dis Is Da Drum (Griffin/Hancock/Lasar/Robertson/Summers) - 4:49
[3] Shooz (Griffin/Moreira/Summers) - 1:17
[4] Melody (On the Deuce by 44) (Chill Factor/Griffin/Robertson/Smith) - 4:05
[5] Mojuba (Griffin/Hancock/Lasar/Robertson/Smith/Summers) - 4:59
[6] Butterfly (Hancock/Maupin) - 6:08
[7] Juju (Galarraga/Griffin/Lasar/Summers) - 5:03
[8] Hump (Maupin/Roney/Shanklin) - 4:43
[9] Come and See Me (Hancock/Smith/Watson) - 4:32
[10] Rubber Soul (Griffin/Hancock/Robertson/Smith/Summers/Watson) - 6:40
[11] Bo Ba Be Da (Hancock/Watson) - 8:04

 A r t i s t s ,   P e r s o n n e l


Herbie Hancock - Synthesizer, Piano, Electric Piano, Clavinet, Moog Synthesizer, Synthesizer Bass, Rhythm Arrangements

Frank Thibeaux - Bass Guitar
Bennie Maupin - Tenor Saxophone
Wallace Roney - Trumpet
Bill Summers - Percussion, Conga, Tambourine, Bells, Djun-Djun, Djembe, Shekere, Vocal Arrangement, Rhythm Arrangements, Cabasa
Mars Lasar - Synthesizer, Keyboards, Sound Design
Airto Moreira - Percussion
Guy Eckstine - Drums
Nengue Hernandez - Bata
Darrell Smith - Keyboards, Piano (Electric), Rhythm Arrangements
Ken Strong - Drums
Wah Wah Watson - Guitar
Jay Shanklin - Rhythm Arrangements
Will Kennedy - Drums
Will "Roc" Griffin - Sampling, Loops, Sequencing, Rhythm Arrangements
Skip Bunny - Djembe

Chill Factor - Rap
Francis Awe - Vocals
Lazaro Galarraga - Vocals

Marina Bambino - Background Vocals
Huey Jackson - Background Vocals
Angel Rogers - Background Vocals
Hollis Payseur - Background Vocals
Yvette Summers - Background Vocals
Louis Verdeaux - Background Vocals

 C o m m e n t s ,   N o t e s


Deep in the mix of "Dis Is da Drum," the title track of Herbie Hancock's first original work in more than a decade, a professorlike voice proclaims, "This is the drum that brings the good spirits." The voice is presumably talking about an African drum, an instrument that's reduced to a strangely subordinate role on "Dis Is da Drum." Hancock may champion the drum, but for him it's a window dressing, an icon that's almost always tethered to some other machine-generated pulse. This is the drum, all right -- neutered. Two years in the making, "Dis Is da Drum" brings Hancock's keyboard-as-orchestra concept to a point somewhere between acid jazz and the more crossover-minded side of world music. Hancock's current music never gathers momentum, however; it echoes the vaguely urbane sonic wallpaper that accompanies the pictorials on the Playboy Channel. This is puzzling because Hancock, more than any jazz-funk-fusion forefather, has been able to join simple backbeats and singsong themes into high art -- remember 1974's "Chameleon'? Here, Hancock establishes a groove, then locks into autopilot; his improvisations, often on acoustic piano, constitute the only serious attempt at variation. Where Hancock was once a master of the danceable pulse, his latest rhythms feel bloodless. These shortcomings are magnified by the few selections that do ignite. "Juju," which is built around the chanted discourse of the drum circle, shifts effortlessly from lazy shuffle to stately processional to galloping triple-meter jaunt. Each change of inflection provides another jolt and suggests fresh melodic possibilities, and as the voices interact with the percussion, it becomes clear that this comparatively low-fi track gets closest to the culture clash that eludes Hancock elsewhere. The watery synthesis that drowns most of these songs is replaced by agitated improvisations and African polyrhythms. Finally, Drum's emphasis is where it belongs -- on the primal, spirit-giving power of the drum.

TOM MOON (RS 710)
Copyright © 1968-1998 Rolling Stone Network. All Rights Reserved.



Is seems for as long as Herbie Hancock has been involved wish music, the ground has broken beneath his genius-filled fees. From his straight-ahead jazz accomplishments in the `60s to his more heralded fusion work in the `70s, Hancock has never been one to compromise or settle. His foray into the jazz/hip-hop arena with Din Is Do Drum is not entirely surprising; his 1983 techno/hip-hop his "Rockit" showed that Herbie could move into a new style and succeed. A bit more expansive that Miles Davis' Doo-Bop bus not quite as street as Buckshot LeFonque, Hancock's interpretation of jazz's newfound incorporation of other urban sounds (hip-hop, R & B, etc.) is both cool and sophisticated. Tracks like "Mojuba" and "Juju" push the envelope even further by incorporating African rhythms with his sharp, contemporary funk. Beat it: "Call It `95," "The Melody" and "Rubber Soul."

Glen Sansone, © 1978-1998 College Media Inc. All rights reserved.



"...Hancock has carved a niche for himself where he can remain contemporary, while reclaiming the so-called acid jazz turf from the new jack crowd....[the] range of samples and percussive colors suggests the pop sheen of some contemporary African sources..."

Musician 8/95, p.86



"...this is a funkified, friendly affair, less gritty and musically deeper than a lot of what goes down in this world..." - Rating: A-

Entertainment Weekly 5/5/95, p.71



DIS IS DA DRUM marks Herbie Hancock's return to the heady mix of pan-ethnic dance rhythms and techno stylings that culminated on his commercial breakthrough, FUTURE SHOCK. But Hancock's slick, soulful Mercury debut also serves to reclaim his turf from all the acid jazz funkateers who've devised a popular commercial style based on aspects (sampled or otherwise) of the Blue Note and CTI recordings which Hancock and his contemporaries originated a generation ago.
DIS IS DA DRUM has a fresh, contemporary appeal, but much of the groundwork for Hancock's current style is derived from his 1982 hit "Rockit," his '70s Headhunters hits ("Chameleon" and THRUST), the Afro-psychedelic free jazz experiments of Mwalandishi, and early-'60s hard bop/soul jazz hits such as "Watermelon Man." True, he came to renown as a post-modernist piano innovator with Miles Davis; but make no mistake, Herbie Hancock has always been funky.
"Call It '94" invokes Clyde Stubblefield's much sampled "Funky Drummer" beat, and by adding orchestral adornments, sampled percussion and a taste of jazz piano, zeroes in on a personal hip-hop/jazz style. Tunes such as "Dis Is Da Drum," "Mojuba" and "Ju Ju" employ extensive samples of African singers and percussion instruments, non-tempered keyboards, plus dub and funk bass coupled to dance-style backbeats, to fuse traditional folk colors and contemporary R&B. "The Melody" combines rap and acid jazz, while "Butterfly" revisits his classic ballad of yore with attractive flute work and atmospheric chording. And while tunes such as "Rubber Soul" and "Bo Ba Be Da" redraw the parameters between sampled grooves and jazz feeling, "Hump" and "Come And See Me" italicize Hancock's mastery of the modern funk idiom.



In the 1970s, Herbie Hancock created a successful blend of jazz improvisation and contemporary funk rhythms in a succession of albums beginning with the classic Headhunters. On Dis Is Da Drum, Hancock once again takes a dive into contemporary rhythms, in this case mid-'90s hip-hop. While the blend was not as commercially successful this time around as his crossover forays of twenty years earlier had been, the resulting music still proves to be well worth checking out. Employing cohorts like Benny Maupin, Wah Wah Watson and multi-percussionist Bill Summers from the old days, and combining them with a huge roster of contemporary jazz, rap and hip-hop musicians, Hancock creates a surprising album full of samples, sequences, drum loops, and rhythm armies. Layered across the top are a variety of solos from Hancock himself, flutist Hubert Laws, trumpeter Wallace Roney, saxophonist Maupin and vocal snippets from various sources.



The release of this album was delayed because of disagreements between the artist and his record company over the final mixes. It is, nonetheless, a recording that rewards repeated listening, from the updated version of "Butterfly," which made its first appearance on 1974's Thrust, to such irresistible gems as "Mojuba," "Bo Ba Be Da" and the title track. Not for jazzers whose ears and minds are closed to new sounds and ideas, but proof that jazz is a continually evolving music capable of absorbing the sounds of each new era and expanding its vocabulary as a result.

Jim Newsom - All-Music Guide
 

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