Herbie Mann returns to the Village Gate 2008-12-13

Reviewer: R. E. Lynch

Herbie Mann at the Village Gate was released as a 33 1/3 LP by Atlantic Rec. Corp. around 1962. It has been rated as one of his finest jazz recordings ever since and was issued in CD form by Warner Music in Japan where it has also been a long time favorite among the Japanese jazz fraternity. A conservative rating of this album would be a 9 out of 10.
However on this scale "Herbie Mann Returns to the Village Gate" is a 1 out of 10, not one of the five tracks comes close to any of the three sublime numbers on the original. If you are tempted, do what I should have done first, listen to a selection of all tracks before you buy.

More "Village Gate"-era Herbie 2007-01-03

Reviewer: Paul Franklin

The first side is much the same group as the wonderful 1961 "At the Village Gate" session: Herbie Mann (flute), Hagood Hardy (vibraharp), Ahmet Abdul-Malik (bass), Rudy Collins (drums), Chief Bey and Ray Mantilla (African percussion). On side two it's a slightly different group: Herbie Mann (flute), Dave Pike (vibraharp and marimba), Nabil Totah (bass), Rudy Collins (drums), Ray Barreto and Ray Mantilla (percussion). I'm not sure of the original session dates, but the original LP cover I have is copyright 1963. The earlier sessions were important steps in world music/jazz fusion, and Herbie hit the nail on the head with his mixture of African percussion stylings, jazz instrumentation, and jazz standard tunes (Comin' Home Baby, Summertime, It Ain't Necessarily So).

On "Herbie Mann Returns to the Village Gate", he carries on with Milt Jackson's "Bag's Groove" and four titles written by Herbie. For those who've longed for more "At the Village Gate", this is it. Side one especially sounds like an extension of the earlier recordings. Side two is a bit different, with even more of an African percussion feel, but also a middle eastern flavor in places, credited by Herbie to Nabil Totah's bowed bass playing. Great rhythmic and lyrical playing throughout, and a complete joy. It's impossible to pick highlights for me as I like the entire album.

The follow-up 1966 "Monday Night at the Village Gate" swings too, and has a cover by the same artist, but it's a different sound with a lot of brass. This is the only recording I've found that really belongs with "At the Village Gate", a recording I've been in love with for forty years now.

It's not hard bop, or swing, or straight African, or jazz-rock; strongly jazz though, it has also elements of modern world music, ambient, and fusion. Herbie was way ahead of his time in some respects, and this is really just a wonderful groove that I don't think anyone else ever did better.

If you liked "At the Village Gate", you'll also thoroughly enjoy this one--a forgotten gem overshadowed by the earlier 1961 recording. I give it five stars because it's just a natural groove, and it's hard to imagine anyone not liking this. If you haven't heard "At the Village Gate", get both, unplug the phone and the computer, sit back and enjoy. They don't make music like this anymore.