Herbie Mann

Herbie Mann was born Herbert Jay Solomon in 1930 in Brooklyn, New York, and died in 2003. He was an American jazz flutist and one of the first major jazz musicians to specialize in the flute. His music covered jazz, bossa nova, Afro-Cuban jazz, soul jazz, funk, disco, and world music, making him one of the early popularizers of world-music influences in jazz.

He is especially known for albums such as Memphis Underground, Push Push, At the Village Gate, Do the Bossa Nova, and Impressions of the Middle East. Important songs/tracks include “Memphis Underground,” “Comin’ Home Baby,” “Push Push,” “Hi-Jack,” and “Bolinha de Papel.” Apple Music and Amazon list several of these among his top songs and albums.

Herbie Mann is known because he helped make the flute a leading instrument in jazz and because he blended jazz with Brazilian, Latin, African, Middle Eastern, soul, and funk influences long before “world music” became a common label.