Herbie Hancock is one of the most sampled artists of all time. From his Miles Davis collaborations of the fifties and sixties through the fusions of the seventies (check Headhunters) to Rockit in 1983 and Dis is Da Drum is the mid-nineties.
Future 2 Future is fantastic, a culmination of spacejazz-electronica experiments from the twentieth to thirtieth centuries.
'The Essence', featuring Chaka Khan on vocals, is already a dancefloor classic; the twelves have remixes by the likes of LTJ Bukem whose generic influence on the stylistics of the programming on this album are wholly evident.
It's totally future jazz. Head music which has been co-produced by Royal Festival Hall virtual resident, Bill Laswell. They've brought in turntablist Rob Swift for the beats and scratching, A Guy Called Gerald for house-rays, Carl Craig for Shades of Rhythm-type astronomy-techno and DXT for the good ol' musical turntabling.
Karsh Kale brings in the world house element, Wayne Shorter comes in on sax and there's the obligatory cameos from others dons throughout this masterpiece.
The album is subtle and it feels like the challenges have been faced in its making, leaving the listener free to enjoy the ride. Music for pleasure.
