Herbie Hancock - Sextant

Herbie Hancock - Sextant is one of the pivotal records in the keyboardist and composer’s extraordinary catalogue. Originally released in 1973, it was Hancock’s first album for Columbia Records and the final studio statement by the Mwandishi-era group before he moved into the more overtly funk-driven territory of Head Hunters. The record sits at a fascinating junction between electric jazz, post-bop experimentation, early electronic music and the rhythmic ideas that would soon reshape jazz-funk.

Hancock had already spent the previous decade working at the highest level of modern jazz, including his celebrated period with Miles Davis, while steadily expanding his own musical language. On Sextant, acoustic and electronic approaches coexist rather than compete. Synthesizers, electric keyboards, unusual studio textures and percussion are folded into a highly interactive ensemble featuring musicians including Eddie Henderson, Bennie Maupin and Julian Priester. The result is exploratory but never shapeless, with rhythm and atmosphere providing a strong centre even at the music’s most abstract.

The album contains just three extended pieces: Rain Dance, Hidden Shadows and the side-long Hornets. Across those tracks the group moves through post-modal improvisation, dense electronic detail, free-form passages and deep rhythmic patterns that point directly toward Hancock’s next phase. Rather than simply serving as a prelude to Head Hunters, Sextant stands as a distinctive work in its own right: futuristic, spacious and adventurous, with a sound that still feels strikingly modern.

This Music On Vinyl edition is available in two configurations. The standard edition is a black LP, while the new pressing is a limited edition of 2,000 individually numbered copies on 180g translucent red & blue marbled vinyl. Both editions present the complete three-track album.