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.
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
Now
-- expanded and gathered for this boxed set.
Strut Records
previously summed up the era with
Remind Me: The Classic Elektra Recordings 1978-1984
, and while the single-disc set balanced deep quiet storm gems like "Settle for My Love" and "Where There Is Love" with danceable hits such as "Haven't You Heard" and "Forget Me Nots," it left much to explore. "Hang It Up," "Let the Music Take Me," "Don't Blame Me," "I Was Tired of Being Alone," and "Get Off (You Fascinate Me)," just to pick a track off each album, merely hint at the delights here that weren't anthologized.
Feels So Real
, packaged fold-out style with an informative and image-rich booklet, also adds well over a dozen bonus tracks -- versions and dubs from the original 12" singles, previously unreleased extended takes, and pioneering New York club DJ
Danny Krivit
's re-edit of "Music of the Earth" (which
Strut
issued in 2010). ~ Andy Kellman