The Supernova that was Jazz-Rock Fusion

  The end of Herbie Hancock's  Mwandishi -era team lineup is officially an Eddie Henderson album due to Eddie's leadership (initiative, funding, and role as principle composer), and it's another great one. (The next of Eddie's album's, 1975's  Sunburst , again has a great lineup of young and seasoned jazz musicians--including Bennie Maupin and George Duke--but there is a radical shift in musical styles toward a more radio- and sales-friendly "smooth" or "funky/disco" jazz fusion that became popular in the mid-70s.) Recorded in San Francisco in October of 1973, the album wasn't mastered and released until 1974--long after Herbie had called it quits on the head-in-the-clouds, atmosphere-exploring Mwandishi septet. (Herbie recorded his first album with a new funk/R&B lineup of four in September, 1973. The album,  Head Hunters , was released on October 13 or October 26 [depending on sources] to become the biggest selling jazz album of all

Patrick Gleeson grew up in Seattle, taking piano lessons from age six but soon found himself interested, at a very young age, in jazz music. Dreaming of a career as a jazz pianist, he began taking the initiative to try to learn jazz piano--even trying to teach himself from Mary Lou Williams ' jazz piano books--but then quit music for 15 years when his parents and piano instructor refused to back his pursuit of jazz studies. So he turned his energies to his school studies, earning a Bachelor's degree (unconfirmed; perhaps from the University of Washington?), and then a PhD in 18th Century English literature from the University of California Berkeley (despite completing his dissertation--in 33 days--while working under the supervision of a favored [more liberal-minded] professor from the University of Washington). (Unconfirmed.) Upon securing a teaching position in the English Department at San Francisco State in the early 1960s, Patrick became active politically. He also began e