Gestures Arif Mirbaghi

Strange Brew: Weird & Wonderful Covers From the Atlantic & Warner Vaults Review by Jason Ankeny
Much of what's so great about the soul-jazz of the late 1960s and 1970s is the jazz community's embrace of contemporary pop and rock & roll – purists blanched, of course, but a new generation of musicians recognized the potential in the melodies and rhythms that dominated AM radio, setting out to reinvent these songs by seizing and expanding their undeniable groove. Strange Brew: Weird & Wonderful Covers From the Atlantic & Warner Vaults collects some of the most imaginative and unexpected renditions to emerge from the WEA roster – the unfortunate subtitle may suggest the material boasts little more than novelty value, but to the contrary, much of it is genuinely compelling, not to mention genuinely funky. If there's a common modus operandi at work here, it's maintaining just enough trace elements of the original to keep a given song familiar, but twisting and stretching it far enough to create something fresh and new – highlights include Rahsaan Roland Kirk's "My Girl," Ananda Shankar's "Jumpin' Jack Flash" and Jack McDuff's "Blowin' in the Wind."

"3614 Jackson Highway" is the 6th album by American singer-actress Cher, released on June 20, 1969 by ATCO. This album was a commercial failure, peaking at #160, although it received praise and positive reviews from the music critics. "3614 Jackson Highway" was the address of Muscle Shoals Sound Studios. The album is by-and-large a covers album.

"Epiphany: The Best of Chaka Khan, Vol. 1" is a compilation album of recordings by American R&B/funk singer Chaka Khan, first released on the Warner Bros. Records label in 1996. Although the compilation, which reached #22 on Billboard's R&B chart and #84 on Pop, was given the "Vol. 1" tag, it remains without a sequel to date. Tracks include 8 previously released solo Khan tracks and 2 from the Rufus & Chaka Khan era ("Ain't Nobody", "Tell Me Something Good"). 6 tracks were new at the time, recorded for Khan's 10th, unreleased, solo album "Dare You To Love Me" ("Love Me Still" and the last 5 tracks in the program). A further 7th new track ("It Ain't Easy Lovin' Me") is included on the Japanese edition of "Epiphany".

Following on from the successful 1950’s cool jazz and bop excursions in “Kind of Cool”, “Kind of Spain” is again with an 100% acoustic band. Traditional Spanish music meets jazz. The vibe created by this sextet is introvert, warm and atmospheric, and the listener’s mind might easily drift off… to a roof terrace somewhere in Granada by night, perhaps.

Whole Oats is the 1972 debut album by Philadelphia, Pennsylvania duo Daryl Hall & John Oates. This pressing was released by American Beat on 12 February, 2008.

"Let Me In Your Life" is the twentieth studio album by American singer Aretha Franklin, released on February 25, 1974 by Atlantic Records. This was one of Aretha's top-selling Atlantic Records albums. The album hit #1 on Billboard's R&B albums chart and reached #14 on Billboard's main album chart, missing the Gold standard by a small margin. Featuring three hit singles, it is regarded as one of Franklin's best Atlantic recordings.

"Bette Midler" is the eponymous second studio album by American female vocalist Bette Midler, released in 1973 on the Atlantic Records label. The album, produced by Arif Mardin and Barry Manilow, includes Midler's interpretations of Johnny Mercer and Hoagy Carmichael's "Skylark", Berthold Brecht and Kurt Weill's "Surabaya Johnny", Bob Dylan's "I Shall Be Released" and Glenn Miller's "In the Mood" as well as a Phil Spector medley. Bette Midler reached #6 on the US albums chart and was later awarded a Gold Disc by the RIAA. The album was released on CD for the first time in 1989. A remastered version of the album was released by Atlantic Records/Warner Music in 1995.

"Young, Gifted and Black" is the 18th studio album by American singer Aretha Franklin, Released on January 24, 1972, by Atlantic Records. The album is Top 10 Gold-certified. The album won Franklin a 1972 Grammy Award for Best Female R&B Vocal Performance of the year. It takes its title from the Nina Simone song "To Be Young, Gifted and Black", which was originally recorded and released by Simone in 1969. In 2003, the TV network VH1 named it the 76th greatest album of all time.

Frequently compared to Aretha Franklin, singer Margie Joseph earned neither the fame nor the critical success lavished upon the Queen of Soul, but a series of excellent records for Atlantic during the 1970s nevertheless won her a spot in the pantheon of soul cult favorites. A Collection includes: Margie Joseph (1973); Sweet Surrender (1974); Margie (1975); Hear the Words, Feel the Feeling (1976); Feeling My Way (1978); Ready For The Night (1984).

"Life Is a Dance: The Remix Project" is a remix album of recordings by American R&B/funk singer Chaka Khan, released by the Warner Bros. Records label in 1989. The compilation takes its title from a track included on Khan's 1978 solo debut album "Chaka". The album, which was released as a double-record set, on CD and as a limited cassette edition with one bonus track, comprises remixes made in the styles of late 1980s dance music genres like house music, hip hop and acid house of tracks originally recorded between the years 1978 and 1984, including two from Rufus & Chaka Khan's final album Stompin' at the Savoy – Live: "Ain't Nobody" and "One Million Kisses".