Street Lady

Performer: Donald Byrd
Artist: Harvey Mason; Chuck Rainey; David T. Walker
Engineer: John Mills
Distributor: EMI Music Distribution

Notes: Personnel: Donald Byrd (vocals, trumpet, fluegelhorn); Fonce Mizell (vocals, trumpet, clavinet); Fred Perren (vocals, ARP synthesizer); Larry Mizell (vocals); Roger Glenn (flute); Jerry Peters (piano, Fender Rhodes piano); David T. Walker (guitar); Chuck Rainey (electric bass); Harvey Mason (drums); King Erricson (congas); Stephanie Spruill (percussion). Producer: Larry Mizell. Reissue producers: Michael Cuscuna, Tom Evered. Recorded at the Sound Factory, Hollywood, California from June 13-15, 1973. This is part of the Blue Note Records Rare Groove series. Not so much a fusion album as an attempt at mainstream soul and R&B, Street Lady plays like the soundtrack to a forgotten blaxploitation film. Producer/arranger/composer Larry Mizell conceived Street Lady as a concept album to a spirited, independent prostitute, and while the hooker with a heart of gold concept is a little trite, the music uncannily evokes an urban landscape circa the early '70s. Borrowing heavily from Curtis Mayfield, Isaac Hayes, and Sly Stone, Donald Byrd and Mizell have created an album that is overflowing with wah-wah guitars, stuttering electric pianos, percolating percussion, soaring flutes, and charmingly anemic, tuneless vocals. It's certainly not jazz, or even fusion, but it isn't really funk or R&B, either -- the rhythms aren't elastic enough, and all of the six songs are simply jazzy vamps without clear hooks. But the appeal of Street Lady is how its polished neo-funk and pseudo-fusion sound uncannily like a jive movie or television soundtrack from the early '70s -- you can picture the Street Lady, decked out in polyester, cruising the streets surrounded by pimps with wide-brimmed hats and platform shoes. And while that may not be ideal for jazz purists, it's perfect for kitsch and funk fanatics. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Donald Byrd set the standard for hard-bop trumpet in his days as a regular on the Prestige and Blue Note labels. His brassy tone and adventurous solos, coupled with a deep sense of the blues, made him one of the most in-demand trumpeters of the 1950s and '60s. Later, Byrd turned to the R&B-influenced side of jazz, which sustained him through several successful years in the late '60s. By the 1970s, Byrd had fully embraced funk and R&B in the form of his popular group, the Blackbyrds. In the '90s, Byrd was introduced to a new crowd when he was a featured performer on rapper Guru's groundbreaking JAZZMATAZZ.

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