Biography
| by Stephen Thomas Erlewine | |
| Bobbi Humphrey is a jazz flautist whose musical tastes lean toward fusion and smooth jazz-pop. From the outset of her career, Humphrey was quite popular, winning a large crossover audience with her pop-oriented jazz-fusion. Throughout her career, her popularity exceeded her critical acclaim, but she received high marks for her technique and showmanship. Audiences stayed with Humphrey for decades, buying her records and attending her concerts from the Montreux Festival to Carnegie Hall.Although Bobbi Humphrey was born in Marlin, TX, she was raised in Dallas. She began playing flute in high school and continued her studies at Texas Southern University and Southern Methodist University. Dizzy Gillespie saw Humphrey play at a talent contest at Southern Methodist and, impressed with what he had heard, he urged her to pursue a musical career in New York City. She followed through on his advice, getting her first big break performing at the Apollo Theater on amateur night. Shortly afterward, she began playing regularly throughout the city, including a gig with Duke Ellington.
Humphrey signed with Blue Note in 1971. Her smooth blend of jazz, funk, pop, and R&B fit in well with the new sound of Blue Note, and her six albums for the label — Flute In, Dig This, Blacks and Blues, Satin Doll, Live at Montreux, and Fancy Dancer — were all successes. In particular, 1973’s Blacks and Blues was a rousing success, earning her a crossover pop and R&B audience. That same year, she played the Montreux Festival in Switzerland. In 1976, she was named Best Female Instrumentalist by Billboard. The following year, she switched record labels, signing with Epic and releasing Tailor Made that same year. She also played on Stevie Wonder’s platinum album Songs in the Key of Life in 1977. Tailor Made was the first of three albums for Epic Records; Freestyle followed in 1978 and The Good Life appeared about a year afterward. During the ’80s, Humphrey continued to perform regularly, even if she didn’t record often. She returned to recording in 1989, releasing City Beat on Malaco Records. Five years later, Passion Flute appeared on her own Paradise Sounds label, where she is President and C.E.O. |
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 Black And Blues album Review ((All Music Guide by Steve Huey)) |
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| 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. | |
Breaks, Samples and Beats
Dig This!: (Blue Note 1972)
* “Smiling Faces Sometimes”
Common’s “Puppy Chow”
Blacks & Blues: (Blue Note 1973)
* “Jasper Country Man”
Digable Planets’s “Blowing Down”
Eric B and Rakim’s “Keep ’em Eager to Listen”
Ice T’s “New Jack Hustler”
* “Just a Love Child”
Grand Puba’s “A Little Bit of This”
* “Harlem River Drive”
Common’s “Just in the. . .”
DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince’s “A Touch of Jazz”
Smif-n-Wessun’s “Session at da Doghill”
Young MC’s “Back in the Day”
* “Blacks & Blues”
Digable Planets’s “The Art of Easing”
Eric B and Rakim’s “Keep the Beat”
Fat Joe’s “Another Wild Nigger from the Bronx”
Justin Warfield’s “Cool Like the Blues”
KMD’s “Peachfuzz”
KMD’s “Plumskinz”
Nice & Smooth’s “Return of the Hip Hop Freaks”
Satin Doll: (Blue Note 1974)
* “San Francisco Lights”
Brand Nubian’s “Love Me or Leave Me Alone”
Kwest’s “Disnexone”
* “Satin Doll”
Masta Ace’s “Saturday Night Live”
* “New York Times”
Young MC’s “Open up the Door (And Let Me In)”
Fancy Dancer: (Blue Note 1975)
* “Please Set Me at Ease”
Bahamadia’s “Intro to _Kollage_”
The Roots’s “Distortion to Static”
Discography
| Releases: | ||||
| Flute-In (Album) | Blue Note … | 1971 | ||
| Flute-In (LP) | Blue Note | 1971 | ||
| Flute-In (LP, Album, RE) | Applause Records | |||
| Dig This! (LP) | Blue Note | 1972 | ||
| Blacks And Blues (Album) | Blue Note | 1973 | ||
| Blacks And Blues (LP) | Blue Note | 1973 | ||
| Blacks And Blues (CD) | Blue Note | 1999 | ||
| Blacks And Blues (LP, Album, RE) | Blue Note | |||
| Chicago, Damn / Just A Love Child (7″) | Blue Note | 1973 | ||
| Harlem River Drive / Blacks And Blues (7″) | Blue Note | 1973 | ||
| Fun House (7″, Promo, Mono) | Blue Note | 1974 | ||
| Live At Montreux (LP, Album) | Blue Note | 1974 | ||
| Satin Doll | Blue Note | 1974 | ||
| Satin Doll (LP) | Blue Note | 1974 | ||
| Satin Doll (LP) | Blue Note | 1974 | ||
| Satin Doll (CD) | Blue Note | 2002 | ||
| Fancy Dancer (LP) | Blue Note | 1975 | ||
| Bobbi Humphrey’s Best (LP) | Blue Note | 1976 | ||
| Tailor Made (LP, Album) | Epic | 1977 | ||
| Freestyle (Album) | Epic | 1978 | ||
| Freestyle (LP) | Epic | 1978 | ||
| Freestyle (LP, Album, Promo) | Epic | 1978 | ||
| Home-Made Jam / Sunset Burgundy | Epic | 1978 | ||
| Home-Made Jam / Sunset Burgundy (12″) | Epic | 1978 | ||
| Home-Made Jam, Sunset Burgandy (7″) | Epic | 1978 | ||
| Love When I’m In Your Arms | Epic | 1979 | ||
| Love When I’m In Your Arms (12″) | Epic | 1979 | ||
| Love When I’m In Your Arms (12″, Promo) | Epic | 1979 | ||
| The Good Life (LP) | Epic | 1979 | ||
| The Best Of (LP) | Epic | 1980 | ||
| Baby Don’t You Know (Single) | Uno Melodic Records | 1982 | ||
| Baby Don’t You Know (7″) | Uno Melodic Records | 1982 | ||
| Baby Don’t You Know (12″, Single) | Uno Melodic Records | 1982 | ||
| No Way | Mercury … | 1986 | ||
| No Way (7″) | Mercury | 1986 | ||
| No Way (12″) | Club | 1986 | ||
| No Way (12″, Promo) | Mercury | 1986 | ||
| Let’s Get Started (Maxi, Single) | Warner Bros. Records | 1990 | ||
| Let’s Get Started (12″, Maxi) | Warner Bros. Records | 1990 | ||
| Let’s Get Started (CD, Single, Promo) | Warner Bros. Records | 1990 | ||
| The Best Of (Album) | Blue Note | 1992 | ||
| The Best Of (LP, Com) | Blue Note | 1992 | ||
| The Best Of (CD, Album) | Blue Note | 1992 | ||
| Blue Breakbeats (Comp) | Blue Note | 1998 | ||
Street Rock Records 