Herbie Mann (April 16, 1930 – July 1, 2003) – Waterbed (1975)

An epic jazz-funk disco jam featuring David “Fathead” Newman on tenor sax, Steve Gadd on drums, and Cissy Houston on backing vocals.

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Herbie Mann was a jazz giant whose career stretched for five decades. He played tenor sax and clarinet early on but is best known for his work on the flute.

Along with Babatunde Olatunji and Yusef Lateef, he was one of the first musicians to fuse world music with jazz. Albums he recorded with Brazilians Antonio Carlos Jobim and Baden Powell helped popularize bossa nova in the U.S. and Europe during the early sixties.

Concert ad, The Philadelphia Inquirer, October 12, 1975.

In early 1975, Mann recorded his Discotheque LP. Its lead single “Hi-Jack” went to #1 on Billboard’s new Disco Action charts for three weeks in February and March of that year, and reached #24 R&B and #14 on the Billboard Hot 100, despite being banned from some AM radio stations for its suggestive lyrics and because of the then-recent phenomenon of airline hijackings.

Mann’s followup album was Waterbed (1975), on which he tried to keep things as funky as possible to recapture the dancefloor-fueled chart success of “Hi-Jack.” Waterbed’s title track was an epic jazz-funk disco jam.

Ray Charles’ legendary sideman David “Fathead” Newman played tenor sax on the track, which also featured Steve Gadd on drums, Will Lee on bass, Jeff Mironov on guitar, and Mann on flute. Backing vocals were provided by “The Hijackers” aka Sylvia Schemwell, Eunice Peterson, and Cissy Houston.

“Waterbed” was co-written by Melvin Barton and Walter Chiles, arranged and conducted by Pat Rebillot, and produced by Mann. An extended version was released as a promo-only 12” single, mixed by Tom Moulton.

#jazz #funk #disco #HerbieMann