Bobbi Humphrey - Fancy Dancer
Released - 1975
Recording and Session Information
The Sound Factory, Los Angeles, CA, August 5, 1975
Oscar Brashear, trumpet; Fonce Mizell, trumpet, Clavinet, Solina, vocals; Julian Priester, trombone; Bobbi Humphrey, flute, vocals; Tyree Glenn Jr., tenor sax; Dorothy Ashby, harp; Roger Glenn, vibes, marimba; Chuck Davis, piano, electric piano; Skip Scarborough, piano, electric piano, Clavinet; Jerry Peters, piano, electric piano, synthesizer; Larry Mizell, synthesizer, Solina, piano, electric piano, vocals; Craig McMullen, John Rowin, guitar; Chuck Rainey, electric bass; Harvey Mason, drums; Mayuto Correa, congas; Jesse Acuna, Rosario Davila, Katherine Lyra, Augie Rey, Sonia Tavares, backing vocals.
16421 You Make Me Feel So Good
16422 The Trip
16423 Fancy Dancer
16424 Please Set Me At Ease
The Sound Factory, Los Angeles, CA, August 6, 1975
Oscar Brashear, trumpet; Fonce Mizell, trumpet, Clavinet, Solina, vocals; Julian Priester, trombone; Bobbi Humphrey, flute, vocals; Tyree Glenn Jr., tenor sax; Dorothy Ashby, harp; Roger Glenn, vibes, marimba; Chuck Davis, piano, electric piano; Skip Scarborough, piano, electric piano, Clavinet; Jerry Peters, piano, electric piano, synthesizer; Larry Mizell, synthesizer, Solina, piano, electric piano, vocals; Craig McMullen, John Rowin, guitar; Chuck Rainey, electric bass; Harvey Mason, drums; Mayuto Correa, congas; Jesse Acuna, Rosario Davila, Katherine Lyra, Augie Rey, Sonia Tavares, backing vocals.
16557 Uno Esta
16558 Mestizo Eyes
The Sound Factory, Los Angeles, CA, August 7, 1975
Oscar Brashear, trumpet; Fonce Mizell, trumpet, Clavinet, Solina, vocals; Julian Priester, trombone; Bobbi Humphrey, flute, vocals; Tyree Glenn Jr., tenor sax; Dorothy Ashby, harp; Roger Glenn, vibes, marimba; Chuck Davis, piano, electric piano; Skip Scarborough, piano, electric piano, Clavinet; Jerry Peters, piano, electric piano, synthesizer; Larry Mizell, synthesizer, Solina, piano, electric piano, vocals; Craig McMullen, John Rowin, guitar; Chuck Rainey, electric bass; Harvey Mason, drums; Mayuto Correa, congas; Jesse Acuna, Rosario Davila, Katherine Lyra, Augie Rey, Sonia Tavares, backing vocals, James Carter, whistling.
16425 Sweeter Than Sugar
Track Listing
| Side One | ||
| Title | Author | Recording Date |
| Uno Esta | L. Mizell | August 6 1975 |
| The Trip | C. Davis-D. Jones | August 5 1975 |
| You Make Me Feel So Good | F. Mizell-L. Mizell | August 5 1975 |
| Side Two | ||
| Fancy Dancer | Jerry Peters | August 5 1975 |
| Mestizo Eyes | L. Mizell-F. Mizell-Jordan | August 6 1975 |
| Sweeter Than Sugar | Chuck Davis, Skip Scarborough | August 7 1975 |
| Please Set Me At Ease | F. Mizell-L. Mizell-Ruby Mizell | August 5 1975 |
Liner Notes
CD Reissue Liner Notes
It has been an immense pleasure getting to know Larry Mizell over the years. Having been a disciple of
the Sky High Productions sound for a long time, the opportunity to be able to pick the brain of one of the men responsible for some of the slickest instrumental street funk ever is always an honor of the highest regard.
But chopping it up with Larry has not been without some vexation. He, his brother Fonce, and the late
Freddie Perren, a close friend and frequent collaborator, have accomplished so much at such a high level during their careers, there are times when Larry's nonchalance in sharing his memories tends to belie the absolute cool of a situation. He tells me stories about playing basketball with the Jackson 5 in the same manner he would as if telling me what he had for breakfast this morning.
For the uninitiated, it would be the chance of a lifetime to be able to drive to the hole and tomahawk dunk on Jermaine Jackson, or drain a 20-foot jump shot in Tito's face. For the Mizells and company,these were realities. Larry acts like he belongs because he does belong. It can be quite humbling for an earthling such as myself.
So I was curious as to what nuggets he would have to share about the recording of Fancy Dancer, and sure enough, there were a few — the spoken word lyrics for "Please Set Me at Ease," written by Ruby Mizell, Fonce, and Larry's mother; guitar contributions from Craig McMullen of Curtis Mayfield's band, and the existence of tapes from jam sessions with the brothers and McMullen; and the origin of "Mestizo Eyes," the Sky High take on the exotic quality of women of the Mestizo Indian tribe. The album was Bobbi Humphrey's fifth and final for Blue Note, and her third with the Mizells, who used the opportunity to explore some world music ideas that were missing from predecessors Blacks and Blues and Satin Doll, notably on the Afro-Latino, "Uno Esta."
"In a way, it was riding on the heels of Black Byrd," Larry says about the timing of the project. Usual
suspects Harvey Mason, Jerry Peters, Chuck Rainey, and John Rowin were in tow, along with a newcomer in revered harpist Dorothy Ashby — "a beautiful lady," says Mizell — who passed away in 1996.
As was the case with other "fusion" of the time, and pretty much any Sky High work after the crossover
success of Donald Byrd's trendsetting Black Byrd, traditionalists looked upon albums like Fancy Dancer
with scorn. Fortunately for the Mizells, the old guard was somewhat silenced by a devoted listening public.
"The people were digging it," Larry explains. "A lot of critics would put a label of 'jazz' on our music and then say, 'This is not jazz,' when it wasn't jazz in the first place. It was instrumental funk.
"They were looking for a definition of what we were doing at the time, and we didn't have a definition. We were just doing what we were doing."
— Ronnie Reese, 2008
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