Herbie Hancock, Sextant (side A)

As Hancock worked with Miles Davis on some of his classic electric records like Live-Evil, On the Corner, and Get Up with It, it's not surprising that Hancock's 1973 album Sextant resembles the albums on which he worked as side-man.  Sextant features other Davis collaborators from this era: drummer Billy Hart and reed player Benny Maupin, and their extended groove-based performances would barely be out of place on an electric Davis album.  Sextant feels a bit less aggressive and harsh than some of Davis's work — there is no distorted electric guitar, and the horns both sound less brash and play a less prominent role.  Hancock's more muted keyboard sounds move to the front, and the timbral space of the music moves with them.  The biggest departure from Davis's work happens at the end of "Rain Dance".  Modular synth squiggles from an ARP 2600 move to the front, and they temporarily displace the grooves that are central to the rest of Sextant.  Patrick Gleeson, who would later work with Devo, is credited as Hancock's ARP guru.  The liner notes here also misspell the Mellotoron (with only one "L"), but it's hard to pick it out among the many keyboards that Hancock employs.  The cover image looks like a cross between a Miles Davis and a Sun Ra album from this era, and those references feel appropriate.  My 90s reissue is overly bright, with a bit of harshness in the hi-hat, and I can't tell if the weird, beater-heavy kick drum sound was also in the original mixes, or if it too is an artifact of the modern mastering job.