Patrice Rushen

Digitally remastered and expanded edition of this classic in demand 1977 Jazz Funk album from multi Grammy nominated Patrice Rushen. This album pre-dates her big commercial successes like 'Forget Me Nots' and shows her more as an incredible keyboard player in a similar style to Herbie Hancock's work of the time. On this album, Patrice introduced her vocals on the track 'Let Your Heart Be Free' which crossed over to a Soul audience. On 'Shout It Out', she is joined by some great musicians including James Gadson, Al McKay and Bill Summers, but the real highlight is Patrice's keyboard playing which is outstanding throughout. The album deserves its place amongst the best Jazz Funk albums of all time.

When Patrice Rushen was being lambasted by jazz snobs for making the switch from jazz instrumentalist to R&B/pop singer, she was also winning over quite a few people. R&B fans didn't care if she was no longer playing long, improvised piano solos with Joe Henderson or Hubert Laws; they loved her singing, and couldn't have cared less what jazz snobs thought of her new direction. Rushen's profile in the R&B world continued to increase with Pizzazz, her second album for Elektra and fifth overall. The song that did the most to make this LP a success was "Haven't You Heard?," a gem of a single that soared to the top of R&B radio play lists and was among Rushen's biggest hits. Many listeners bought Pizzazz because of "Haven't You Heard?," and they quickly discovered that the rest of the album was also excellent…

After she mixed post-bop, soul-jazz, and jazz-funk with nimble ingenuity over three albums for the Prestige label, Patrice Rushen moved to Elektra, and with labelmates Donald Byrd, Lenny White, and Dee Dee Bridgewater extended the imprint's commercial reach while continuing to obscure the distinctions between jazz and R&B. Elektra VP Don Mizell promoted the term jazz fusion. Musician James Mtume referred to his similar approach as sophisti-funk. Whatever the category, Rushen was in the top tier. She continually moved forward as a keyboardist, vocalist, songwriter, arranger, and producer with the five LPs – Patrice and Pizzazz, which hit the Top Ten of the jazz chart, followed by Posh and the Top Ten R&B albums Straight from the Heart and Now – expanded and gathered for this boxed set.

When a 20-year-old Patrice Rushen recorded her debut album, Prelusion, in 1974, she was still four years away from becoming a full-time R&B singer. Instrumental jazz was her main focus, and there was every reason to believe that she would become a major figure in the jazz world. The L.A. native showed considerable promise on this entirely instrumental LP, which is best described as straight-ahead post-bop with fusion references and features such impressive soloists as tenor saxophonist Joe Henderson, trombonist George Bohanon, and trumpeter Oscar Brashear. Playing both acoustic piano and electric keyboards, Rushen brings a strong Herbie Hancock influence to promising originals like "Haw-Right Now," "Shortie's Portion," and "Puttered Bopcorn."

The selections on this uncommonly strong CD (a collaboration featuring keyboardist Patrice Rushen, saxophonist Ernie Watts, bassist Alphonso Johnson and drummer Ndugu Chancler) alternate between soulful jazz, inventive R&B, a bit of funk and ballads. Watts is in top form, and Rushen (who recalls Chick Corea on "Tango" and Herbie Hancock in other spots) shows that she can play with creativity. The set is a pleasant surprise and is recommended to listeners who enjoy R&B-oriented jazz.

An early-'80s jazz-pop-R&B synthesis as durable and pleasing as any other, Straight from the Heart was Patrice Rushen's most successful album, at least from a sales standpoint: it peaked at number 14 on the pop chart, 25 slots higher than 1980's Pizzazz. Still working with a core group of associates — including Freddie Washington, Charles Mims, Paul M. Jackson, and Marlo Henderson (along with a still young Gerald Albright) — that went back to her earlier Elektra albums, the material here is as slick as ever, but not at the expense of lighter rhythms or less memorable melodies. Much of the album's popularity can be attributed to the club hit "Forget Me Nots," Rushen's most-known single — a breezy, buoyant mixture of handclaps, fingersnaps, twisting bass, and Rushen's typically blissful (and not overplayed) electric piano, not to mention the incorporation of a bad bass-and-percussion breakdown.

It seems a paradox to peg the singular transcendental moment of Patrice Rushen's very contemporary Signature as the one tune where acoustic jazz sensibilities take over. But without the kick starting impact of "L'Esprit De Joie," a perfectly titled free for all featuring Gerald Albright's roaring alto and real ivories instead of keyboards, this would be simply another typical – albeit well performed – slickly produced radio ready affair.

Patrice Rushen is an american keyboardist, singer, songwriter, arranger and musical director with several Top Ten R&B hits, including "Haven't You Heard," "Forget Me Nots," "Feels So Real," and "Watch Out." "Forget Me Nots"…she had an outstanding career for more than 37 years!

This album features Stanley Clarke, who needs little introduction. After working with Dexter Gordon, Gil Evans, Pharoah Sanders and Stan Getz his career took off when he formed the legendary Return to Forever band with Chick Corea. Patrice Rushen is a multi-Grammy-nominated artist. Leon 'Ndugu' Chancler has performed with Herbie Hancock, Freddie Hubbard and Miles Davis and recorded with George Duke, Weather Report, Lionel Richie, Thelonious Monk, The Crusaders and others.