Patrice Rushen – Patrice

TRACKS:

A1 Music Of The Earth
A2 When I Found You
A3 Changes (In Your Life)
A4 Wishful Thinking
A5 Let's Sing A Song Of Love
B1 Hang It Up
B2 Cha-Cha
B3 It's Just A Natural Thing
B4 Didn't You Know
B5 Play!
C1 Music Of The Earth (Danny Krivit Edit)
C2 Hang It Up (12" Version)
D1 Play! (12" Version)
D2 Didn't You Know (Extended Version)

DESCRIPTION

After a series of jazz funk albums on Prestige, Patrice moved to Elektra as the label tapped into the burgeoning “sophisticated R&B” market at the tail end of the disco era. “By this time, I had already made some great in-roads, made some great friends and picked up valuable knowledge which definitely paid off in terms of the music and the way the records sounded,” Patrice remembers. As a brilliant pianist, songwriter and arranger from a young age, Rushen was perfectly placed to bring the class and musicianship that the label needed and now also began to assume the role of lead vocalist for the first time. She enlisted the production prowess of high school friend Charles Mims, Jr. and long-time mentor Reggie Andrews.

Recorded at the newly opened Conway Studios in L.A., ‘Patrice’, Rushen brought in heartfelt lyrics, vulnerability and messages of hope into her music for the first time on yearning tracks like ‘Didn’t You Know’ and ‘When I Found You’ alongside simply forgetting your troubles on the singles ‘Hang It Up’ and Play!’. Clubs played an important part in the interest in her music. While her record label didn’t fully get behind her as an artist until the early ‘80s, influential club and black radio DJs consistently supported her and recognised Patrice as a unique talent. ‘Music Of The Earth’ became an underground New York club favourite and Danny Krivit’s extended edit has endured in its own right, included here.