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The Evolution of Mann: Herbie Mann and the Flute in Jazz
More than any other musician, Herbie Mann was responsible for establishing the flute as an accepted jazz instrument. Prior to his arrival, the flute was a secondary instrument for saxophonists, but Mann found a unique voice for the flute, presenting it in different musical contexts, beginning with Afro-Cuban, and then continuing with music from Brazil, the Middle East, the Caribbean, Japan, and Eastern Europe. As Mann once said, “People would say to me, 'I don't know where you are right now ' and I would respond, 'And you're not going to know where I'm going to be tomorrow.'” A self-described restless spirit, Herbie Mann also was a master at marketing himself. His insatiable curiosity about the world led him to experiment with different kinds of sounds, becoming a virtual Pied Piper of jazz. He attracted thousands to his concerts while alienating purists and critics alike. His career lasted for five decades, from his beginnings in a tiny Brooklyn nightclub to appearances on international stages. “I want to be as synonymous with the flute as Benny Goodman is for the clarinet ” he was fond of saying. By the time he died of prostate cancer in 2003, he had fulfilled his desire.
- GenresMusic
216 pages, Paperback
First published March 1, 2014
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
April 24, 2014
Herbie Mann is unarguably the most famous jazz flautist of all time. He is also said to be the first jazz musician to specialize in this instrument although it can be argued that the distinction should go to Sam Most. It can also be argued that Herbie Mann's popularity is not really based on his jazz work or even his technical expertise on the flute but on Mann's talented tendency to pick commercial trends and follow them. And lastly it can be argued that Mann's singular gift is not based on him being the best flautist in pop music or jazz but the one most able to greet listeners at the lowest denominator.
The Evolution of Mann: Herbie Mann and the Flute in Jazz is part of a "series of jazz biographies by Cary Ginell published by Hal Leonard Books". It is on the short side at under 200 pages and therefore tends to cause any musical analysis by Grinell tio be a bit thin. That is unfortunate because the author does seem to have a nice grasp of the music and the musician's role in developing our understanding of jazz. However he is primarily regulated to a straightforward description of Mann's history and discography. He does seem to lightly touch upon the issues I mentioned in the first paragraph. He is quite aware of Mann's lean toward commercialism. He quotes Sam Most talking about Herbie Mann as saying,
..but he is also aware that Mann did have a innovative style in that he searched for music that was not only appealing to the public but was something new to be heard. Mann was one of the first musicians to experiment seriously with Brazilian and third world musics in jazz and if his experiments seem a little tame to today's standard, he did open the world to a better understanding of third world music.
One of the things I thought was interesting is that Mann did not start out as a Flautist. He wanted to be a tenor saxophonist. Part of his reason for picking up the flute seem to be that as a saxophonist he was out manned...
Mann's decision to specialize in the flute was an important move for jazz. He started as a pure jazz player but became intrigued with the use of the flute in Latin orchestras and eventually found his own vote mixing jazz with Latin, Brazilian, and African rhythms. But as Ginell notes...
Mann liked to say he wanted to be like Benny Goodman, a distinct musician and popularizer of his instrument (in Goodman's case, the clarinet). I think Mann accomplished that with the caveat that Goodman remained a jazz musician while Mann swerved into easy-listening. I say with only a bit of sarcasm that Herbie Mann is one of the reasons we hear so many flute solos in elevators.
The author does a good job following Mann's changes of direction and writes a nice biography, giving the title Evolution of Mann a very appropriate turn. Yet aside from a few pages at the beginning about the limited use of the flute in American Music before the 50s, he doesn't say that much about the evolution of the flute after that. Yes, Herbie Mann may of been the most popular but he wasn't necessarily the best or the most innovative. To my ears, Sam Most is a much more accomplished flautist and the first to play the flute regularly as a jazz musician. While Herbie Mann was busy become the Kenny G of the 60s and 70s, Hubert Laws took the mantle of most popular jazz flautist and while still concerned with a cross-over style, spoke more to the modern jazz of the time. But while this was all going on, other seminal musicians less beholden to commercial interest such as Julius Hemphill, Eric Dolphy, and Yusef Lateef were stretching the boundaries of jazz and the flute. In fact, on a list of 100 innovative flautists, Mann was listed second to Eric Dolphy.
So Ginell's biography may be good for a basic history of Herbie Mann and even a must read for the avid Mann Fan, it doesn't really help us learn much about jazz and the role of the flute. For this reason, it becomes a disappointing read despite the author's distinct to-the-point style which I find refreshing. It still remains to see if Herbie Mann takes a front row seat in jazz history. The recent environment seems to be against him. But I do appreciate Grinell's biography for reminding us that Herbie Mann did play a brief role in the development of jazz even if Mann himself decided to turn against that role later in his life.
The Evolution of Mann: Herbie Mann and the Flute in Jazz is part of a "series of jazz biographies by Cary Ginell published by Hal Leonard Books". It is on the short side at under 200 pages and therefore tends to cause any musical analysis by Grinell tio be a bit thin. That is unfortunate because the author does seem to have a nice grasp of the music and the musician's role in developing our understanding of jazz. However he is primarily regulated to a straightforward description of Mann's history and discography. He does seem to lightly touch upon the issues I mentioned in the first paragraph. He is quite aware of Mann's lean toward commercialism. He quotes Sam Most talking about Herbie Mann as saying,
"One time I told Herbie, "Wow, I wish I could be as successful as you. "I was working in L.A. at that time. And Herbie said "One of us has to be the artist and one of us has to be the business."
..but he is also aware that Mann did have a innovative style in that he searched for music that was not only appealing to the public but was something new to be heard. Mann was one of the first musicians to experiment seriously with Brazilian and third world musics in jazz and if his experiments seem a little tame to today's standard, he did open the world to a better understanding of third world music.
One of the things I thought was interesting is that Mann did not start out as a Flautist. He wanted to be a tenor saxophonist. Part of his reason for picking up the flute seem to be that as a saxophonist he was out manned...
When I went into the Army, I wanted to be Lester Young. That's all I thought of. When I got out, I found Stan Getz, Al Cohn, Zoot Sims, Brew Moore and Allen Eager had beaten me to it."
Mann's decision to specialize in the flute was an important move for jazz. He started as a pure jazz player but became intrigued with the use of the flute in Latin orchestras and eventually found his own vote mixing jazz with Latin, Brazilian, and African rhythms. But as Ginell notes...
As with everything Herbie did, there was a business angle to accompany the creative decision. At the end of his contract with Verve, he put these ideas to work in a project that would change his life as well as the direction of jazz.
Mann liked to say he wanted to be like Benny Goodman, a distinct musician and popularizer of his instrument (in Goodman's case, the clarinet). I think Mann accomplished that with the caveat that Goodman remained a jazz musician while Mann swerved into easy-listening. I say with only a bit of sarcasm that Herbie Mann is one of the reasons we hear so many flute solos in elevators.
The author does a good job following Mann's changes of direction and writes a nice biography, giving the title Evolution of Mann a very appropriate turn. Yet aside from a few pages at the beginning about the limited use of the flute in American Music before the 50s, he doesn't say that much about the evolution of the flute after that. Yes, Herbie Mann may of been the most popular but he wasn't necessarily the best or the most innovative. To my ears, Sam Most is a much more accomplished flautist and the first to play the flute regularly as a jazz musician. While Herbie Mann was busy become the Kenny G of the 60s and 70s, Hubert Laws took the mantle of most popular jazz flautist and while still concerned with a cross-over style, spoke more to the modern jazz of the time. But while this was all going on, other seminal musicians less beholden to commercial interest such as Julius Hemphill, Eric Dolphy, and Yusef Lateef were stretching the boundaries of jazz and the flute. In fact, on a list of 100 innovative flautists, Mann was listed second to Eric Dolphy.
So Ginell's biography may be good for a basic history of Herbie Mann and even a must read for the avid Mann Fan, it doesn't really help us learn much about jazz and the role of the flute. For this reason, it becomes a disappointing read despite the author's distinct to-the-point style which I find refreshing. It still remains to see if Herbie Mann takes a front row seat in jazz history. The recent environment seems to be against him. But I do appreciate Grinell's biography for reminding us that Herbie Mann did play a brief role in the development of jazz even if Mann himself decided to turn against that role later in his life.
February 7, 2025
this was a cute book quite a guy am i right come here
May 28, 2016
Herbie Solomon, known as Herbie Mann, made room for the flute as a lead instrument in jazz, and went to the sources of world music to offer a taste of many cultures. Herbie Mann could play bebop with the best of them, but was interested in exploring other subgenres of jazz, and music from all over the world. The flautist went through phases, notably Brazilian bossa nova, and Afro-Cuban before that, both of those before Middle Eastern, Japanese, R&B, and, infamously, disco, among others.
Like Yusef Lateef, Mann played many different instruments, including handmade flutes of various materials. The tenor saxophone was part of his early career, and one constant through the remainder was the alto flute. His compositions evoke different images, emotions or experiences. Mann was a prolific recording artist, with Atlantic Records for most of his career, and two separate attempts at his own label.
The author makes good use of DownBeat reviews and other related sources. Part of the subject’s goal was to be both artistic and commercially successful, an act he was able to balance. He did pay his band better than other band leaders were doing at the time. However, some of his fellow musicians were critical, not openly but among themselves, of Mann’s musicianship. He always found out what was popular at the time, not only to sell more records, but to provide a “point of reference” to draw in more listeners. On his African tour, they played the first song, “Caravan,” in three styles, and whichever got the best response was used for the rest of the set. Although he scouted out bossa nova in Brazil, Stan Getz beat him to introducing this style in North America: because one of his live albums was still doing so well, the record company delayed releasing his first bossa nova album.
The author of “The Evolution of Mann” also plays flute, so you can see where some of the interest came from to make this biography. I didn’t know much about Herbie Mann, and while this book doesn’t reveal too much about the Mann himself, it gives a comprehensive review of his discography and public performances.
For more reviews, follow my blog at http://matt-stats.blogspot.com/
Like Yusef Lateef, Mann played many different instruments, including handmade flutes of various materials. The tenor saxophone was part of his early career, and one constant through the remainder was the alto flute. His compositions evoke different images, emotions or experiences. Mann was a prolific recording artist, with Atlantic Records for most of his career, and two separate attempts at his own label.
The author makes good use of DownBeat reviews and other related sources. Part of the subject’s goal was to be both artistic and commercially successful, an act he was able to balance. He did pay his band better than other band leaders were doing at the time. However, some of his fellow musicians were critical, not openly but among themselves, of Mann’s musicianship. He always found out what was popular at the time, not only to sell more records, but to provide a “point of reference” to draw in more listeners. On his African tour, they played the first song, “Caravan,” in three styles, and whichever got the best response was used for the rest of the set. Although he scouted out bossa nova in Brazil, Stan Getz beat him to introducing this style in North America: because one of his live albums was still doing so well, the record company delayed releasing his first bossa nova album.
The author of “The Evolution of Mann” also plays flute, so you can see where some of the interest came from to make this biography. I didn’t know much about Herbie Mann, and while this book doesn’t reveal too much about the Mann himself, it gives a comprehensive review of his discography and public performances.
For more reviews, follow my blog at http://matt-stats.blogspot.com/
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews