Bobbi Humphrey

★★★★ Blacks And Blues BLUE NOTE. LP Much-sampled ’70s jazzfunk classic returns. The first female AfricanAmerican instrumentalist signed to Blue Note, this Texas-born flautist teamed up with producer/songwriter Larry Mizell in 1973 after hearing his work on Donald Byrd’s Black Byrd album. Mizell’s forte was creating fluid, funkafied backdrops where long instrumental passages contrasted with infectious vocal choruses, and on this album the spacious nature of his material allowed Humphrey – who also sings on a couple of tunes – to showcase her dazzling improv skills. Highlights range from the deep, heavy funk of Chicago, Damn to the undulating rhythms of the atmospheric Harlem River Drive. In the hip-hop age, the album has proved a breakbeat hunter’s paradise, with Ice T and DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince among the many who have sampled its wares. Forty-six years on, Blacks

And Blues remains the essential long-player in Humphrey’s catalogue.