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
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