Wednesday, November 16, 2011

Brick Adds A Little Jazz To Their Funk For Hit Song Dazz

Funk/jazz band Brick lit up the airwaves with their dance smash "Dazz" in late 1976. The track is an infectious fusion of funk, disco and jazz, and it had folks stampeding the dance floor back in the day. "Dazz" (meaning a hybrid of disco and jazz) is the second single off the Atlanta-based quintet's debut album Good High. The groove is anchored by Ray Ransom's sinuous bass line. And reed and brass man Jimmy Brown pulls double duty on this track, playing both the sax and flute parts. He delivers a great jazzy flute solo during the song's breakdown.

There is something quite unique about this track that distinguished it from other popular R&B and dance records. It's jazzy funk over a hypnotic dance beat. The seductive groove captured the imagination of music lovers and dance-floor junkies alike. The song just beckons you to the dance floor, and you can't help but move and groove to it. Its slinky flow was perfect for doing the Body Language, a very popular dance on the urban dance scene back in the late '70s.

"Dazz" was written by Ransom and fellow Brick members Regi Hargis Hickman and Eddie Irons. The band sings the lead falsetto vocal in unison, which works really well on this track. The song shot to number one on the R&B charts where it remained for four weeks; and  it climbed to number three on the pop charts. In addition to "Dazz," Brick scored a few other great tracks that also did well on the charts before disbanding in 1988.


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Related blog entry: Review of Brick's Self-Titled Second Album