Customer Reviews

Blue Break Beats

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I don't give 5 stars lightly, but I think I'd be unfair if I dropped a star without really knowing why... The truth is, this is a fantastic compilation. Be warned, it's a pretty short - thirtysomething minutes. But it has that great early seventies groove that Bobbi Humphrey was so proficient at, and it also contains a very rare track of hers - Smiling Faces Sometimes, which allmusic.com rightly calls "awesome." Also, the other collection of her best contains some of her later tracks which for my money don't compare with these (don't get me wrong, I like them, but this is a better compilation). For cruising with the top down or just hanging out, CDs don't get much better than this.

Bobbi Humphry was a jazz flute player who made some gorgious records in the 70s. Using top-flight sessionmen like Chuck Rainey, she created smooth grooves which she then sailed over with her bouncy, quicksliver flute playing.

Tracks like "Harlem River Drive," and "San Fransico Nights," demonstrate this. Like Donald Byrd at the time, Humphry added silky harmonies to her smooth jazz, back when smooth meant funky and polished, not sterile and banel.

This is a great collection of her music and a great way to discover an artist you should not let pass by.

One should get this CD if they are very interested in the crossover between jazz and hip-hop. This CD takes you into several tracks that have been used by hip-hop artists of the nineties. The sound is pretty good, but the beats are for those for a taste for hip-hop.