Street Lady

Bared midriffs and huge wigs on the cover, titles like “Sister Love” and “Witch Hunt,” that Mizells sound which brought soul jazz square into Isaac Hayes Movement turf — it’d be all too easy to take in this LP from Donald Byrd’s early ’70s ascendance to the pinnacle of R&B-friendly fusion and come away from it with nothing but misguided impressions of Blaxploitation kitsch. But engage it on its own terms, and the grooves run deeper than expected, even after you take all the sample-flip potential out of the equation. And Byrd’s playing is just one of the highlights of a session-player ensemble rife with an almost alien sense of melodic uplift and rhythmic drive. If you find early analog synths and wah-wah guitars more inspiring than comedic, this album will reward you with some fantastic musical interplay and a lot of absolutely astounding soloing.