Bobbi Humphrey Live at Montreux

This CD is a Japanese Import that has copied extremely well from the master tapes. It captures the highly talented Bobbi Humphrey live at Montreux on 5 July 1973 - at the very pinnacle of her BlueNote jazz career. This is, without question, a seminal "Humphrey" moment in time and is tremendous to hear this again after 40 years.At the time of her appearance at Montreux, Humphrey had already notched up three superb successes with Flute in (1982) (released in 1971); Dig This (released in 1972); and Blacks And Blues (released in 1973).For the 'live' set at Montreux, Humphrey selects 'Sad Bag' and 'Ain't No Sunshine' from Flute in (1982) and 'Virtue' from Dig This. But we are treated to 'Sugar' - described on the sleeve notes as "pure soul" in her flute playing - this is no accident for Humphrey was starting to blend jazz with soul as a way of entering the mainstream but persuading the soul-setters to consider the fusion. Note: at the time of Humphrey's appearance at Montreux, she had just put the finishing touches to the forthcoming BlueNote release Blacks And Blues. Humphrey had been recording at The Sound Factory, Hollywood, CA. I find it difficult however to understand why no "Blacks and Blues" tracks were premiered at Montreux. Given the pressure of record companies at the time, only Humphrey herself will be able to clarify this one. Perhaps she did perform a track or two from "Blacks and Blues" but none were captured by the BlueNote technicians in the recording vans? Of course, there would have been no sign or hint of the outstanding 1974 Satin Doll LP although I suspect Humphrey was already forming this project in her mind during the Montreux and "Blacks and Blues" juxtapositions - Satin Doll does have a very airy / atmospheric live feel that takes "Blacks and Blues" into part two, as it were, although of course the purists seemed to prefer "Blacks and Blues." Montreux serves actually as a fair retrospective for Humphrey on the eve of the "Blacks and Blues" explosion.The only criticisms of the new Montreux Live CD is actually the presentation - the sleeve cover used for this CD is undoubtedly taken from the promo shots for the Blacks And Blues LP released later in the same year - is that the same pose and t-shirt I ask myself - it would have been nice for authentic Montreux photos to have been used by BlueNote - I'm sure they exist somewhere. I can't recall the 'Live' set ever being on vinyl so I am suggesting this is actually a first-ever release of these live recordings. A word about the sleeve notes - Jere Hausfater of BlueNote does a splendid job but the English notes are placed on the back and are extremely difficult to read without a magnifying glass. Being that this CD is a Japanese limited edition import, the inner sleeve is completely in Japanese! There is a question however - were both inner and outer sleeve notes written by Fausfater in October 2012??? I suspect the answer is yes. What I actually enjoy about Fausfater's sleeve notes is that they evoke the atmosphere of the occasion and are extremely well informed and written. My only gripe is that Fausfater refers to the date being 3 July 1973 whereas the track listing is referred to as 5 July 1973. (Interestingly on 3 July 1973, the world were being brow-beaten by David Bowie at Hammersmith Odeon as he killed off Ziggy!). So early July 1973 was an important moment in musical history for more than one reason eh!So who appears on these recordings with Humphrey? Answer: Donald Byrd complete with his signature rhythm section; and the brilliant underrated Kevin Toney on Fender Rhodes / Keyboards.Although there are only 4 tracks recorded, this CD is worth every penny and for Bobbi Humphrey collectors, the new CD version marks an important benchmark in remastering of the original tapes. This CD is superb despite the issues of sleeve notes. I stand by my view that this collection never appeared on vinyl but I am prepared to be corrected should evidence of a vinyl surface.

Took rather a long time to arrive from Japan but worth the wait! I've been looking for this album for a long time, having got rid of my vinyl copy years ago. I feel that her early work had a great bluesy funky feel which was lost in more recent albums.

The album is great, but there was no explicit mention that this was the Japanese version of the album (only that it shipped from Japan).

最初に断っておくが、同時期スタジオ録音盤のような"華やかさ"や"色香"を期待すると肩透かしを喰らう、と言う事だ。収録されている何れも8分を超える4曲はオーソドックスなジャズ寄りの"堅い"音楽であり、決して大衆に媚びたクロスオーヴァーのような"軟らかい"音楽ではない。共演陣もスタジオ録音盤の準オーケストラとは打って変わって、リズム隊のみのシンプルな構成。要するにフルート奏者としての素顔が良く見える反面、その実力がモロに反映されるシビアな舞台設定となっている。彼女は1曲毎に"merci beaucoup"と一言だけ述べるが、そのこわばった声からも彼女の緊張と覚悟が伺える。で、肝心の彼女のフルートは意外にも低中音域を多様した骨太で"女性らしからぬ"ドッシリした音色。決して矢継ぎ早に高速フレーズをトリッキーに決めて聴衆を煙に巻いたりする"受け"狙いミエミエのタイプではないと思う。惜しむらくは演奏される4曲が似たり寄ったりのテンポなので途中からやや単調に感じられる事だ。それでも原曲をあまり崩すことない丁寧なフレーズのフルートからは彼女の懸命さがダイレクトに伝わり、演奏後は爽快な気分になる。Bobbi Humphrey(fl) Kevin Toney(elp) Berney Perry(g) Henry Franklin(b) Keith Killgo(dr)

現場での緊張感が伝わって来ます。CDでは大人しい音に聞こえました。出来ればオリジナルのLP(現在は高額ではないと思います)で聴かれることをおすすめします。迫力が違います。

And it's a good one! Often buried in settings where she almost seems like a bystander, here she is out front, leading a group through 4 long numbers. She puts in a strong performance - good technique and tone, solos that really develop - the Montreux audience reacted enthusiastically. Her pick-up rhythm section is made up of members of a Donald Byrd group that also performed that day (minus the Mizell Brothers and Nathan Davis), and they also get plenty of solo space. Humphrey's career was about to go in another direction, and while her subsequent recorded output is enjoyable for what it is, it's good to have her jazz chops on full display. Now, I don't want to oversell this - it's hardly essential, and there are dozens of jazz flute albums that I would rank above this. But as a showcase for Bobbi Humphrey, and for the overall performance and ambiance, this is a pleasant surprise.

Great live music coming from Montreux by a great flute player. I took my wife to see her here in Norfolk, VA just two months ago. I have been a fan of hers since she released "Harlem River Drive" back in the seventies.

If you were not lucky enough to see her perform live, this is the next best thing. A nice piece of work. The band is really tight.

Good Musician