Vonetta

Wayne Shorter (tenor sax), Miles Davis (trumpet), Herbie Hancock (piano), Ron Carter (bass) and Tony Williams (drums). From the album Sorcerer (1967).

Vonetta McGee was an American actress famous for her involvement in the 1970s blaxploitation films, such as Blacula, Melinda, Hammer, Detroit 9000, Thomasine Bushrod and Brothers. All were “B-series” films, with a low budget, and were part of a film trend that emerged from the struggle for civil rights and the supremacy of groups such as Black Power or the Black Panthers, which defended the protagonism of African American performers, directors and artists. McGee became the main face of the genre and an icon for fans.

Vonetta Flowers is an American bobsledder. Bobsled is an Olympic winter sport in which teams of two or four make timed runs on narrow, winding, sloping, icy tracks in a gravity-propelled sled. Like the light and simple sled, it began in the Swiss Alps in the late 19th century. In 2002, Flowers became the first black person to win a gold medal at the Winter Olympics.

Hancock and Carter make a short introduction and soon Davis and then Shorter come in to expose the theme in unison at medium-slow tempo. First Davis plays measuring each note outlining a moderate and sober solo. Shorter follows him with a more continuous improvisation showing his stylistic resources. Shorter and Davis then return to play the theme again to give way to Hancock, who presents a frugal and light melodic line, and the group re-exposes the theme.