After recording three jazz-oriented albums for
Prestige
,
Patrice Rushen
switched to
Elektra
and gave herself a major R&B/pop makeover with
Patrice
. Even the funkiest parts of
Shout It Out
, the last of
Rushen
's three
/
Fantasy
albums, couldn't have prepared listeners for this LP, which finds her taking the commercial plunge and successfully making the transition from jazz instrumentalist to R&B/pop vocalist. As expected, jazz's hardcore audience cried foul: Like
Roy Ayers
George Duke
George Benson
, and other jazz instrumentalists who took up R&B singing,
was called a sellout and vilified in the jazz media.
was trashed by jazz critics. Instead of hating this album because it isn't jazz, however, they should have judged it by R&B/pop standards. When those standards are applied, it becomes obvious that
is, in fact, a rewarding R&B/pop effort.
demonstrated that she could be an expressive, charming singer, and her writing or co-writing is solid on cuts that range from the funky
"Hang It Up"
and the lovely ballad
"Didn't You Know?"
to the socio-political
"Changes (In Your Life)."
With
, the Los Angeles native made it clear that she was as appealing as an R&B/pop singer as she had been as a jazz pianist/keyboardist. ~ Alex Henderson