BOBBI HUMPREY — Dig This! (1972) RM | Two Version | Blue Note, The Masterworks Series | FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

Dig This, recorded and released in 1972, is the second of Bobbi Humphrey's seven Blue Note albums; it is also her sophomore recording. The album was produced by then-label president George Butler. He had signed Humphrey and helmed her debut, Flute In, the previous year. Recorded at A&R Studios, the young flutist was teamed with bassists Ron Carter and Wilbur Bascomb, Jr., powerhouse drummer Alphonse Mouzon, guitarists David Spinozza and William Fontaine, and keyboardists Harry Whitaker and Paul Griffin. While the album’s formula didn’t deviate that much from her debut -- an easy, tasty balance of soul, pop, and jazz tunes -- the material, production, and Humphrey’s confidence all stand out here. Check her reading of Bill Withers' “Lonely Town, Lonely Street,” as she stretches the melody to meet Bascomb's and Spinozza’s funky grooves. While strings swoop and hover, threatening to overtake the mix, her plaintive style goes right at them with meaty, in-the-pocket phrasing. Her version of Whitfield and Strong’s “Smiling Faces Sometimes” is well-known in pop culture for the sample that appeared on Common’s “Puppy Chow,” but taking the tune in full, Humphrey’s gift as a soloist is revealed in full, as she winds around and through funky clavinets, Rhodes, strings, guitars, and Mouzon’s popping snare. The reading of Stevie Wonder's “I Love Every Little Thing About You,” with its bubbling basslines and Humphrey’s understatement of the melody, make this a bright, shining jazz-funk number. “El Mundo de Maravillas (A World of Beauty),” is one of two fine Mouzon compositions to appear here, this one commences with a cello in a spacy, soulful ballad that showcases Humphrey’s classical chops before it moves into funk terrain and then back again. The set closer is a souled-out reading of Kenny Barron's “Nubian Lady,” with chunky guitars, Bascomb’s Fender bass, shuffling drums, and Humphrey adding air and space to the knotty groove. While Dig This is not the revelation that Blacks and Blues is (it appeared two years later), it is nonetheless a stone killer example of jazz-funk in its prime, and should be considered an essential part of the canon.

-> This comment is posted on Allmusic by Thom Jurek, follower of our blog 'O Púbis da Rosa' <- 
Tracklist :
1. Lonely Town, Lonely Street 4:35  
(Bill Withers) 
2. Is This All? 3:43
(Henry Johnson) 
3. Smiling Faces Sometimes 6:19
 (Barrett Strong-Norman Whitfield) 
4. Virtue 4:28
(Alphonse Mouzon) 
5. I Love Every Little Thing About You 4:19
(Stevie Wonder) 
6. Love Theme from "Fuzz" 3:47
(Dave Grusin) 
7. Eo Mundo de Maravillas (A World of Beauty) 7:31
 (Alphonse Mouzon) 
8. Nubian Lady 4:47
(Kenny Barron) 
Credits :
Bobbi Humphrey - Flute
George Marge - Oboe, English Horn
Seymour Berman, Paul Gershman, Irving Spice, Paul Winter - Violin
Julian Barber (Viola), Seymour Barab (Cello), Eugene Bianco (Harp)
Harry Whitaker (Electric Piano), Paul Griffin (Electric Piano, Clavinet)
William Fontaine, David Spinozza - Guitar
Ron Carter - Bass
Wilbur Bascomb Jr. - Electric Bass
Alphonse Mouzon - Drums, Bell Tree, Arranger
Warren Smith (Percussion)
Wade Marcus, Horace Ott - Arranger

BOBBI HUMPHREY — Flute-In (1971) RM | Two Version | SHM-CD | Blue Note, The Masterworks Series | APE + FLAC (image+.tracks+.cue), lossless

A landmark signing, Bobbi Humphrey was the first female ever signed by Blue Note Records. Her debut pays homage to songs popularized by others, no original material made it pass the drawing board. The petite flautist from Texas sticks to tradition on covers of "Ain't No Sunshine," and "It's Too Late," her flute conveying the songs' sentiment, and sadness as convincingly as any voice in music. Jazz roots spar with funk and soul influences on Lee Morgan's "Sidewinder," and Eddie Harris' "Set Me Free." The fight continues on Ben E. King's "Spanish Harlem," and which has more bounce and rhythm than the original. Bobbi displays dexterity and power throughout her coming out, mainstream LP. Andrew Hamilton
Tracklist :
1. Ain't No Sunshine 2:30
 Bill Withers
2. It's Too Late 3:05
 Carole. King / Tony Stern

3. Sidewinder 6:13
 Lee Morgan
4. Sad Bag 5:05
 Dick Griffin
5. Spanish Harlem 3:45
 Jerry Leiber / Phil Spector
6. Don't Knock My Funk 4:36
 W. Marcus Bey
7. Set Us Free 5:48
 W. Marcus Bey
Credits :
Bobbi Humphrey - Flute
Billy Harper - Sax Tenor
Lee Morgan - Trumpet
Gene Bertoncini - Guitar
Hank Jones, Frank Owens - Piano
Gordon Edwards, George Duvivier - Bass
Idris Muhammad, Jimmy Johnson Jr. - Drums
George Devens - Marimba, Percussion, Vibraphone
Ray Armando - Conga

BOBBI HUMPHREY — Fancy Dancer (1975-2008) RM | Blue Note Rare Groove Series | Two Version | APE (image+.cue), lossless + FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

The third and final collaboration between flutist Bobbi Humphrey and Larry Mizell also marked the end of Humphrey's five-album run with Blue Note Records. Humphrey began recording with Larry and his brother Fonce (who provides arrangements and plays clavinet and trumpet here) in the aftermath of Donald Byrd's Black Byrd, the collaborative jazz-funk effort that resulted in a massively successful (and influential) commercial breakthrough for the trumpeter and the label. While not as well known as her Blacks and Blues album, her stellar debut with the pair from 1973, Fancy Dancer is every bit its aesthetic equal. The Mizells lined up a serious crew of studio aces for the date, including trumpeter Oscar Brashear; trombonist Julian Priester; Tyree and Roger Glenn on saxophone and piano, respectively; pianists Skip Scarborough and Jerry Peters (who were part of an army of them on this date); drummer Harvey Mason; bassist Chuck Rainey; and even the great Dorothy Ashby on harp. Recorded at their Sound Factory studio in Los Angeles, Fancy Dancer is a seamless collection of seven tracks that cruise the distance across soulful fusions of funk, Latin grooves, electric jazz, and gauzy vocal choruses that offer a hint as to what the underground dancefloor scenes of Los Angeles and New York were offering in at the predawn of the disco era. Humphrey's flute playing feels effortless as she hovers around and plays through the layers of spacy keyboards, shimmering rhythmic pulses, and seductive textures provided by lilting voices, hand percussion, and breaks. The set comes popping out of the gate with the glorious "Uno Esta," featuring bank upon bank of warm bubbling keyboards, roiling basslines, and hand drums courtesy of Mayuto Correa's congas. Craig McMullen and John Rowin contribute some bright chunky guitars, and Larry lays a fine horn chart in the cut as Humphrey begins the first of three solo breaks. When the chorus comes in, the rhythm shifts; the vibe get funkier but never loses the sheen and polish in the mix.

Following this is the stunning Chuck Davis number "The Trip." Commencing with a cut-time funk break, wah-wah guitars, and three different synth harmonic lines all painting a nocturnal spaced-out groove, Humphrey begins to play fills around and through them. A Rhodes enters and the drums become more pronounced in the mix, just as a guitar begins to play contrapuntal fills under her flute. This is one of the greatest tracks in her catalog because it is simultaneously dreamy and sensual and offers enough head-nodding funk to seduce an army. The title track feels more laid-back at first with its gentle chorus. But some flipped-out psychedelic soul finds its way through in waves of Latin percussion that build a shelf under Roger Glenn's vibes break, which in turn sets up Humphrey's burning flute solo prefiguring a salsa piano line and furious hand drumming in syncopated grooves. "Mestizo Eyes" is a steamy, lusty babymaker with simmering, ratcheted intensity as Rainey's fat-bottom electric Fender bassline belies the chunky wah-wah guitars and synth strings and Dorothy Ashby's harp floats through the center. A chorus of male voices softly chants the title and Humphrey goes to town, rhythmically undulating her solo through the entire mix. There isn't anything approaching a middling moment here -- this is all killer, no filler. Jazz critics may have had their troubles with this set, but no one cared; Humphrey and the Mizells were creating a new kind of largely instrumental funk that was inclusive of everything they could weave in from world music to soul-jazz to club music to pop -- and the public responded.
-> This comment is posted on Allmusic by Thom Jurek, follower of our blog 'O Púbis da Rosa' <-
Tracklist :
1 Uno Esta 6:40
Arranged By – Fonce Mizell & Larry Mizell
Written-By – L. Mizell
2 The Trip 5:36
Arranged By – Chuck Davis, Skip Scarborough
Piano – Chuck Davis
Written-By – C. Davis, D. Jones
3 You Make Me Feel So Good 6:12
Arranged By – Fonce Mizell & Larry Mizell
Written-By – F. Mizell-L. Mizell
4 Fancy Dancer 5:42
Written-By, Arranged By – Jerry Peters
5 Mestizo Eyes 4:49
Arranged By – Fonce Mizell & Larry Mizell
Written-By – L. Mizell-F. Mizell, W. Jordan
6 Sweeter Than Sugar 4:20
Whistle – James Carter 
Written-By, Arranged By – Chuck Davis, Skip Scarborough
7 Please Set Me At Ease 6:05
Arranged By – Fonce Mizell & Larry Mizell
Written-By – F. Mizell-L. Mizell, Ruby Mizell
Credits :
Arranged By [Background Vocal] – Larry Mizell, Fonce Mizell
Bass – Chuck Rainey
Clavinet, Synthesizer [Solina], Trumpet – Fonce Mizell
Conductor – Fonce Mizell, Larry Mizell, Sigidi
Congas – Mayuto Correa
Drums – Harvey Mason
Flute, Vocals – Bobbi Humphrey
Guitar – Craig McMullen, John Rowin
Harp – Dorothy Ashby
Marimba, Vibraphone – Roger Glenn
Piano, Electric Piano [Fender Rhodes], Clavinet – Skip Scarborough
Piano, Electric Piano [Fender Rhodes], Synthesizer [Arp] – Jerry Peters
Piano, Synthesizer [Solina, Arp], Electric Piano [Fender Rhodes] – Larry Mizell
Tenor Saxophone – Tyree Glenn, Jr.
Trombone – Julian Priester
Trumpet – Oscar Brashear
Vocals – Augie Rey, Bobbi Humphrey, Fonce Mizell, Jesse Acuna, Katherine Lyra, Larry Mizell, Rosario Davila, Sónia Tavares

BOBBI HUMPHREY - Blacks and Blues (1974-1999) APE (image+.cue), lossless

Bobbi Humphrey scored her biggest hit with her third album Blacks and Blues, an utterly delightful jazz-funk classic that helped make her a sensation at Montreux. If it sounds a lot like Donald Byrd's post-Black Byrd output, it's no accident; brothers Larry and Fonce Mizell have their fingerprints all over the album, and as on their work with Byrd, Larry handles all the composing and most of the arranging and production duties. It certainly helps that the Mizells were hitting on all cylinders at this point in their careers, but Humphrey is the true star of the show; she actually grabs a good deal more solo space than Byrd did on his Mizell collaborations, and she claims a good deal of responsibility for the album's light, airy charm. Her playing is indebted to Herbie Mann and, especially, Hubert Laws, but she has a more exclusive affinity for R&B and pop than even those two fusion-minded players, which is why she excels in this setting. Mizell is at the peak of his arranging powers, constructing dense grooves with lots of vintage synths, wah-wah guitars, and rhythmic interplay. Whether the funk runs hot or cool, Humphrey floats over the top with a near-inexhaustible supply of melodic ideas. She also makes her vocal debut on the album's two ballads, "Just a Love Child" and "Baby's Gone"; her voice is girlish but stronger than the genre standard, even the backing vocals by the Mizells and keyboardist Fred Perren. Overall, the album's cumulative effect is like a soft summer breeze, perfect for beaches, barbecues, and cruising with the top down. Steve Huey  
Tracklist:
1 Chicago, Damn 6:31
Larry Mizell
2 Harlem River Drive 7:50
Larry Mizell
 3 Just a Love Child 6:34
Larry Mizell
 4 Blacks and Blues 4:37
Larry Mizell
5 Jasper Country Man 5:14
Larry Mizell
6 Baby's Gone 8:48
Larry Mizell 
 Credits
Backing Vocals, Arranged By [Vocal] – Fred Perron, Larry Mizell, Fonce Mizell
Clavinet, Trumpet – Larry Mizell
Composed By, Arranged By, Conductor – Larry Mizell
Congas, Backing Vocals – King Errisson
Drums – Harvey Mason
Electric Bass – Chuck Rainey, Ron Brown
Electric Guitar – David T. Walker, John Rowin
Flute, Vocals – Bobbi Humphrey
Percussion – Stephanie Spruill
Piano, Electric Piano – Jerry Peters
Synthesizer [Arp] – Freddie Perren