Eddie Henderson – Anua (1973) (recorded February 27-28, 1973)
Henderson's debut solo LP was one of Herbie Hancock's legendary Mwandishi albums and featured this cosmic jazz-funk jam with Hancock on electric piano.
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From February 27-28, 1973, Herbie Hancock and most of the members of his legendary Mwandishi Band were at the Different Fur Trading Company recording studio in San Francisco, CA, working on trumpeter and Mwandishi member Eddie Henderson’s debut solo album.
Realization was released later that year on Capricorn Records. It featured almost all the personnel from the Mwandishi sextet, the band formed by Hancock in the early 70s to explore electronic music, which released three albums under his own name and another two led by Henderson. The band was named after a Swahili word meaning ‘writer’ that Hancock used as an alias at the time.
The Mwandishi players on Realization were Henderson on trumpet, flugelhorn, and cornet; Hancock on Fender Rhodes and Univox electric piano; Buster Williams on bass; Billy Hart on drums and percussion; Patrick Gleeson on ARP and Moog synthesizer and organ; and Bennie Maupin on bass clarinet, flute, alto flute, and tenor saxophone. Only trombonist Julian Priester was missing, but added to the lineup was drummer Lenny White.
The entire LP was phenomenal and considered by many to be one of the best of all the albums featuring the Mwandishi Band. Highlights included the out-there journey “Mars in Libra” and the beautiful cosmic jazz-funk jam “Anua,” the only track written by multireedist Bennie Maupin.
Mwandishi Band live in Detroit, 1973
Like the rest of the record, “Anua” was co-produced by prolific producer Skip Drinkwater and band member Gleeson, who was added to the original Mwandishi sextet to program and help play the brand new synthesizers the band was using.
Here’s an hour-long interview with Henderson from 2021, including an essay he wrote titled “Spokesmen for the Revolution” (posted in full in the video’s description) on how the Mwandishi Band came together and what they were trying to accomplish through their music. And here, Henderson talks about recording Realization and his other two solo albums, Inside Out and Sunburst:
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