Monk Higgins - Little Mama (CD)

All Music Guide

The second of Higgins' (United Artists dates is the more consistent of the two. In fact, two of the songs on the first side (“Walking in My Sleep" and “Can't Stop") share the exact same rhythm. As was common for Higgins around this time, many of these tunes are mid-tempo jazz funk with an emphasis on the 3-beat. Both of his UA dates featured background vocals by the Specialties Unlimited but Little Mama, unlike its predecessor, includes some electronic keys and, as such, sounds more like an early-70's funk record than anything else. This fact further divorces Little Mama from the standard ‘jazz' tag so listeners wary of crossover soul jazz may want to avoid this one. As an RB record, though, it stands up amongst some of the best of the genre and will likely live a long and prosperous life as a source for hip hop samples.

- Brandon Burke, All Music Guide