Freddy Robinson – Black Fox from the World Pacific Jazz 45

Here we are on Monday. It was a long weekend of DJing, and I am trying to enjoy a day of sunshine finally. But before I do that, I need to get this record out there. What better way to celebrate a nice sunny day with some Bluesy Jazz Funk. I am a fan of the Blues, and I sometimes feel as if I should probably cover the genre a bit more, as artists cross over from Blues to Jazz to Funk and back again. Before we get into this slice of goodness, I wanted to say that I have another Guest DJ for the Flea Market Funk Guest DJ Series. It’s the one and only Devil Dick, who will be throwing out a specialty mix of his own. I’m not gonna give it away, but it’s supposed to be on the rare side. I’m looking forward to that one for sure. At any rate, let’s slide into a Monday morning 45, shall we? Here’s Freddy Robinson and “Black Fox”, on World Pacific Jazz Records from 1969.

Freddy Robinson was born in Memphis, TN in 1939. He grew up in Arkansas, and started playing the guitar at the age of 9. Initially he was a Bluesman, playing behind such notables as Little Walter, Willie Dixon, and Howlin’ Wolf. His biggest asset was that he could really just switch up genres, and that’s a favorite here at FMF. He could go from a Blues to a Jazz context with no problem, and is most likely one of the reasons he was able to get a variety of studio musician gigs. That ability to switch it up had him appear on Cobblestone, Checker, Queen (King subsidiary), Enterprise (Stax subsidiary), ICA, Liberty, and Checker. Besides his Blues work, he’s done records with Monk Higgins (who wrote this side), the Blossoms, aforementioned Little Walter, Louis Armstrong, Jazz Crusaders, Blue Mitchell, John Mayall, Stanley Turrentine, amongst a throng of other people. He was flexible in both bass guitar and the guitar, which of course gave him an advantage as a studio musician as well as a front man. Later on in life, he would convert to Islam and change his name to Abu Talib. World Pacific Jazz was a division of Pacific Jazz Records (after it was bought by Liberty Records), founded by Richard Bock and Roy Harte in 1952. They boasted a roster of Paul Desmond, Chet Baker, Gerry Mulligan, and Gerald Wilson, among others. Known for that cool, West Coast Jazz sound, it was later bought up by EMI.

“Black Fox”, to me is a great way to start off your week. Robinson’s guitar moves me as Grant Green or Wes Montgomery does. With the addition of the strings (Monk’s doing?) and a beautiful piano throughout, “Black Fox” is smooth and sexy. Despite not being a household name, Robinson definitely made an impact on not only the people he played with, but for himself, as a Blues/ Jazz guitar virtuoso. It always makes me happy to see a guy who can do things his own way and plow a successful path doing his own thing, on his own accord. By no means was his career a cakewalk, all artists struggled in that time period. Whether it be race relations, or just struggling to get your music accepted by a closed ears society, Robinson pushed on to have a successful career. I hope you enjoyed this side as much as I did, and until the next time, Keep Diggin’!