Blacks and Blues

by Steve Huey
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. As usual, the purists are missing out.

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