Today at noon we were at MetroTech Commons to see the first lady of the flute, Bobbi Humphrey,and her terrific band put on a wonderful show for the crowd.
She's celebrating her fortieth year of show business and shows no sign of slowing down from the performer she was back in the day when she was she was the first woman signed by Blue Note Records.
Her jazz phrasing is impeccable, and she has a virtuosity that enables her to move from crisp buoyancy to honeyed, flowing riffs.
This show was part of the Brooklyn Academy of Music's annual BAM Rhythm and Blues Festival, now in its seventeenth year.
The MetroTech Commons is a wonderful venue, and lots of chairs and even tables for midday lunch-eaters are available.
Someone saw us taking our little cellphone pics and said, "You get around. I saw you at Chrisette Michelle's show last night." We felt kind of embarrassed but sort of nice.
Her band was so excellent, they gave her great playing a run for the money
(the keyboardist was particularly brilliant),
and her young godson plays the trombone with flair.
But we've never heard anyone as good on the flute as Bobbi Humphrey. She may be a Texas country girl, but she plays music as hip and urbane as any we've ever heard.
We're grateful we got to see Bobbi Humphrey this afternoon at MetroTech.
Here's her "Harlem River Drive" from the 1973 album Blacks and Blues (Youtube video courtesy of Gilach):
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