Mwandishi

Mwandishi is the eleventh album by jazz pianist Herbie Hancock, released in 1970. It is one of Hancock's first departures from the traditional idioms of jazz as well as the onset of a style aimed to capture wider audiences and produced for mass-appeal, similar to his 1973 album, Head Hunters. In addition, Mwandishi was Hancock's attempt at continuing the musical principles and styles he began playing with Miles Davis on In A Silent Way. Hancock's previous attempts at jazz-rock fusion included Fat Albert Rotunda, an album conceived solely for Bill Cosby's Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids.

Mwandishi was principally recorded at the Van Gelder Studio in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey between October 4 and December 8, 1969, and Wally Heider Recording Studios, San Francisco, California on December 31, 1969. It was originally recorded by the Mwandishi Sextet that was built around Herbie Hancock and progressive notions of funk, jazz, and rock during this time period.

The tracks on Mwandishi are "Ostinato," which is in 15/4 rhythm, "You'll Know When You Get There", and "Wandering Spirit Song". "Wandering Spirit Song" features Hancock's extensive use of tension and release, whereby he builds the tension of the song by increasing the amount of musical voices and increasing crescendos, only to release the tension with long held out chords on his synthesizer.

Mwandishi is a Swahili name Hancock adopted during the late 1960s and early 1970s. The members of the Sextet each adopted a Swahili name: Mchezaji/Buster Williams, Jabali/Billy Hart, Mganga/Eddie Henderson, Mwile/Bennie Maupin, Pepo Mtoto/Julian Priester, and Ndugu/Leon Chancler.