Crossings (Herbie Hancock album)

Crossings is the tenth album by jazz pianist Herbie Hancock, released in 1972. It is the second album in his Mwandishi period, which saw him experimenting in electronics and funk with a sextet featuring saxophonist Bennie Maupin, trumpeter Eddie Henderson, trombonist Julian Priester, bassist Buster Williams and drummer Billy Hart. The album is the band's first to feature synthesizer player Patrick Gleeson. He was scheduled to "set up his Moog for Hancock to play." However, Hancock was so impressed with Gleeson that he "asked Gleeson not only to do the overdubs on the album but join the group."^[5]

Crossings
Studio album by Herbie Hancock
Released	End of May 1972^[1]
Recorded	February 15–17, 1972
Studio	Pacific (San Mateo) Different Fur (San Francisco)
Genre	Avant-garde jazz, jazz fusion
Length	46:21
Label	Warner Bros.
Producer	David Rubinson
Herbie Hancock chronology
Mwandishi (1971) Crossings (1972) Sextant (1973)

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	^[2]
The Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide	^[3]
The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings	^[4]

Crossings, along with Fat Albert Rotunda and Mwandishi, was reissued in one set as Mwandishi: The Complete Warner Bros. Recordings in 1994 and as The Warner Bros. Years (1969-1972) in 2014.

Track listing

Original LP

Side A

1. "Sleeping Giant" (Herbie Hancock) – 24:50

Side B

1. "Quasar" (Bennie Maupin) – 7:27
2. "Water Torture" (Maupin) – 14:04

Personnel

• Herbie Hancock – piano, electric piano, mellotron, percussion
• Eddie Henderson – trumpet, flugelhorn, percussion
• Bennie Maupin – soprano saxophone, alto flute, bass clarinet, piccolo, percussion
• Julian Priester – tenor and alto trombones, bass, percussion
• Buster Williams – bass guitar, double bass, percussion
• Billy Hart – drums, percussion

With:

• Patrick Gleeson – Moog synthesizer
• Victor Pantoja – congas
• Candy Love, Sandra Stevens, Della Horne, Victoria Domagalski, Scott Beach – voices

References

External video
Herbie Hancock - Sleeping Giant
Herbie Hancock - Water torture

1. Billboard May 27, 1972
2. Allmusic review
3. Swenson, J., ed. (1985). The Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide. U.S.: Random House/Rolling Stone. p. 94. ISBN 0-394-72643-X.
4. Cook, Richard; Morton, Brian (2008). The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings (9th ed.). Penguin. p. 642. ISBN 978-0-141-03401-0.
5. Stuart Nicholson's notes for the 2001 Warner Bros. CD reissue.