Herbie Mann: Comin' Home, Baby

Herbie Mann's 1957 decision to flute exclusively was an unprecedented risk. Hard as it was to earn a living playing only jazz, fulltime fluting would be a fluke fit for a flake. To his lasting credit, Herbie Mann-aged this feat, establishing himself as jazz's most popular flutist for over a decade, and in so doing also solidifed the flute's rightful place in jazz. Recorded live, "Comin' Home, Baby" demonstrates Mann's appeal as he nimbly hang-glides above a steady 12-bar blues vamp anchored by two bassists and three drummers. (Pretty hard to miss the beat with that crew.)