Travis Biggs - 1976 - Challenge

Travis Biggs 

1976

Challenge

01. I Wish 4:29

02. Autumn Jewel 4:41

03. Fly Like An Eagle 4:40

04. Ven A. Bailar Conmigo 4:10

05. Solar Funk 4:09

06. The Do-Do Walk 4:59

07. Stone Country 4:26

08. Tibetan Serenity 4:10

Acoustic Bass – Donald Mayberry

Bass Guitar – Doug Smith

Congas – Humberto Hernandez (Nengue)

Drums, Percussion, Timbales, Timpani – Jerome Spearman (Big Foot)

Electric Bass, Acoustic Bass – Donald Mayberry

Flute, Tenor Saxophone – Vincent Bowens

Lead Guitar – Darryl Smith

Narrator [Monologue] – Harry Bowen

Rhythm Guitar – Barney Flowers

Trumpet, Flugelhorn – Rayse Biggs

Violin, Organ, Bells, Mandolin – Travis Biggs

Vocals – Deloris Harris, Jeanette McGruder

Original release from 1976. No catalogue number on cover, spine or labels. "TBC 1001" is etched into the runout groove, though.

To think that this album wasn’t going to be released at all, this guy, who is a serious multi-instrumentalist, wanted to just compile a kind of musical CV showcasing his talents. Luckily a friend of his talked him into releasing this musical CV as an actual album, and thus a very limited run was released on his own self funded TB&C label. Double luckily, Soul Jazz Records have re-released this album on the back of their excellent New Thing! compilation and made it available to us all.

Hats off to Soul Jazz for reissuing this lost gem, as this is one of the finest disco influenced jazz-funk albums I’ve ever heard. Occasionally when disco rhythms were used to make artists/albums more commercial in the mid-late ‘70s, the results could be shockingly bad, but this guy has got it absolutely spot on. Also, one of this guy’s main instruments is the violin, or various forms of it, and his slightly psyched-out playing really adds darker and spacier textures to the whole feel of the album. Every second of this album is totally listenable, but there’s one moment that really stands out for me, and worthy of a mention, and that’s his truly fantastic version of Steve Miller’s “Fly Like An Eagle”. I would never have believed it possible to improve on Steve Miller’s version of this tune, but this guy’s take is just so spacey, plus with a kind of down-home Cajun (ish) fiddle style to it that really adds an interesting twist to it.

Musically I really can’t fault this album anywhere, except maybe for some cheesy vocals on one track, but as Soul Jazz has made this available again for total peanuts (I’ve seen originals going for anything between $100 and $400) then it really is worth checking out if jazz-funk is your bag.

Cool stuff -- and one of the strangest funk records you'll ever hear! Travis Biggs is a keyboardist and violinist -- and he's best known for his one album Solar Funk on the Source label -- but this is an earlier release that predates that one, issued on a small Detroit label, and with a rawer sound overall! The groove is sort of spacey jazz funk fusion -- with vocals on a few cuts, but mostly a focus on the instrumental side of the album -- served up by Travis on Fender Rhodes, synth, organ, harp, mandolin, and electric violin. Some numbers are laidback and mellow, b,ut many others are upbeat and very grooving -- with almost a boogie funk sort of groove! Includes original versions of the tracks "Solar Funk" and "Tibetan Serenity", the latter of which is an excellent instrumental with a very famous sample,