Village Life

This is one of the more unexpected releases in Herbie Hancock's long and storied career. While Hancock has done just about everything, and has previously incorporated African influences in his early electric work (think Mwandishi and Crossings), no one anticipated this beautiful, moving work of Afro-Pop. Paired with kora master Foday Musa Suso, Hancock improvises with aplomb melding what was then state-of-the-art digital keyboard technology with traditional instrumentation and vocals.