Video: Herbie Hancock in 1972

A year and a half before keyboardist Herbie Hancock recorded his seminal Headhunters album in the fall of 1973, he was in Paris performing with his Mwandishi Sextet. Mwandishi is Swahili for composer and it's a name Hancock called himself in the late 1960s and early '70s. Members of his group followed suit: Mchezaji ("player," someone who plays a game) was for Buster Williams, Jabali ("strong as a rock") was for Billy Hart, Mganga ("doctor," whose traditional functions include exorcism, prophecy and the removal of spells) was for Eddie Henderson, Mwile ("body", from Swahili mwili) was for Bennie Maupin, Pepo Mtoto ("demon baby") was for Julian Priester, and Ndugu ("brother") was for Leon Chancler. 

His sextet in Paris in '72 featured Herbie Hancock/Mwandishi (keyboards), Eddie Henderson/Mganga (flugelhorn), Bennie Maupin/Mwile (bass clarinet, flute, alto saxophone), Julian Priester/Pepo Mtoto (trombone), Buster Williams/Mchezaji (bass) and Billy Hart/Jabali (drums).

Fortunately, this early Mwandishi group was taped on March 23, 1972 performing Toys, Water Torture and Sleeping Giant. A couple of weeks ago this month, the French tape was colorized and uploaded to YouTube. A special thanks to Chris Cowles for finding it and sharing the link.

Here's Herbie Hancock and his Mwandishi Sextet...