For years, Herbie Mann had been sneaking by without really finding his true niche. That was until 1963 when he signed to Atlantic and rubbed up against the bossa nova and then a Top 40 jukebox to become both a popular live club attraction and a crowd-puller on the emergent jazz festival circuit. As luck would have it, Herbie Mann was in the right place at the right time and that place was Rio where, in the company of local hotshots – Baden Powell, Sergio Mendes and Antonio Carlos Jobim to name check just three, he turned in an album that rode in on the success being enjoyed by Stan Getz before dozens of others clambered aboard the passing bandwagon. Sure, Herbie Mann was an accomplished musician – a poll winner even, but to be realistic, as a player he didn’t have much bite nor generate nearly the same degree of genuine excitement as say Roland Kirk or grimace and stand on one leg like Ian Anderson. For instance, a chance encounter with the Bill Evans Trio (Nirvana) wasn’t a tour de force, more like Herbie accidentally stumbling into a studio where Evans was recording.

However, the undeniable fact that with both At The Village Gate and Do The Bossa Nova remaining on the U.S. Top 50 best selling album charts for seven and two months respectively, the realisation that he had tapped into a whole new youth market became apparent. Regarded Stateside as being ‘Mod’ (an entirely different and far less challenging beast than the UK original), Herbie quickly explored popular mainstream tastes in music and clothes. Indeed, it was only when be began to get down and funky with Muscle Shoals Nitty Gritty and Hold On, I’m Comin’ did things become apparent as to which direction he was headed.

To this end, his ace was an ability to continually recognise, then hire, first rate crews of back-up musicians that at one time or another included vibes masters Roy Ayers and Dave Pike, Ray Charles’ star sax man David “Fathead” Newman, guitarists Sonny Sharrock and Eddie Hinton, up and coming keyboard maestro Chick Corea and a variety of kick-ass rhythm sections, the most notable being Barry Beckett (p), David Hood (b) and Roger Hawkins (d). All this being dressed up in a gaudy wardrobe that would have made Austin Powers dizzy with envy.