Stanton Davis’ Ghetto Mysticism

When a group of rare-groove fanatics rave over the same album but each cite a different song as the “must-hear” track, there’s something special going on. Brighter Days by Stanton Davis’ Ghetto/Mysticism band is not your run-of-the-mill, late-’70s jazz-funk recording. Flugelhorn player Stanton Davis, a New Orleans–born transplant to Boston who studied at Berklee and the New England Conservatory of Music, certainly has his jazz chops together, but the influence of soul, funk, and disco that flavor the production bring to mind the further reaches of a Mizell Brothers production (or the more in-the-pocket grooves of Sun Ra, if you like).

Part of the infamous band that recorded as Stark Reality, Davis first came to the attention of the contemporary beatdigger scene when the Soul Cal division of Stones Throw Records plucked the opening cut from Brighter Days for a 12-inch single reissue in 2008. That track, “Things Cannot Stop Forever,” may be the best-known tune from the album, but it’s far from the only highlight. The Gilles Peterson favorite “Space-A-Nova” as well as “High Jazz” are too out to call disco but far too groovy to qualify as straight jazz, while “Funky Fried Tofu” could be a lost Kool & the Gang outtake. Lush, moody pieces “Play Sleep” and “Nida” evocatively fill out the album.

Only three thousand copies of the LP were pressed in 1977 on the folk label Outrageous Records, most of which quickly disappeared with little fanfare. Enter Boston-based label Cultures of Soul, who have done a loving job with their homegrown reissue, including detailed liner notes and a careful reproduction of the original artwork.