CHAKA KAHN: Echoes of an Era

CHAKA KAHN
Não se assustem! Não perdi o juízo, não bebi, não fumei nem cheirei: apesar de, ao longo dos anos, haver bebido oceanos de álcool e fumado uma tonelada de cigarros, sou abstêmio e anti-tabagista há 25 anos.(Drogas, nunca experimentei: minha geração era mesmo do álcool.) ENTÃO, é isso mesmo que você está vendo: Chaka Kahn, só que cantando "jazz straight ahead", acompanhada por uma constelação de músicos de primeiríssima grandeza. Nos dias de hoje, em que a "blogsfera" foi invadida por uma leva enorme de cantoras de jazz brancas - boa parte delas, européia - nada melhor do que dar uma guinada de 180º e ouvir o vozeirão, a garra e o "swing" de Chaka Kahn, numa raríssima (acho mesmo que única) incursão pelo jazz.
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CHAKA KAHN
In 1982, soul goddess Chaka Khan did the unexpected when she recorded this excellent, straight-ahead jazz LP. Regrettably, the album was released under the name Echoes of an Era instead of under Khan's own name -- so it wasn't nearly the big seller it probably would have been if Elektra had fully exploited Khan's connection with the project. But while Echoes of an Era was the victim of questionable marketing, it was a creative triumph. Joined by Joe Henderson on tenor sax, Freddie Hubbard on trumpet and flugelhorn, Chick Corea on acoustic piano, Stanley Clarke on upright bass, and Lenny White on drums, Khan demonstrates that she is quite capable of handling hard bop and straight-ahead jazz. Corea, Clarke, and White had all been members of the fusion powerhouse of the '70s Return to Forever, but make no mistake -- Echoes of an Era is very much an acoustic bop date. With
White producing and Corea handling the arrangements, the singer swings aggressively and really soars on Thelonious Monk's "I Mean You" and Duke Ellington's "Take the 'A' Train," as well as on "Spring Can Really Hang You Up the Most," "All of Me," and "I Loves You Porgy." In fact, Khan's jazz singing is so strong that one cannot help but wonder what would have happened if jazz had been her dominant direction instead of R&B.
(By Alex Henderson)
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MINHA OPINIÃO: gosto muito deste álbum, no qual Chaka Kahn, acompanhada pelo
"dream team" composto por Chick Corea, Stanley Clarke, Lenny White, Joe Henderson e
Freddie Hubard, canta um primoroso repertório de "standards". Suas versões de "I hear music", "All of me" e "I loves you Porgy" não ficam nada a dever às das divinas divas Ella & Sarah. Um show de interpretação de CK.

(*) Penso igual ao Alex Henderson no último tópico do seu comentário: o que teria sido da carreira de CK se tivesse escolhido o caminho do jazz ?
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CHAKA KAHN: Echoes of an Era

PERSONNEL:
Chick Corea - piano
Freddie Hubbard - trumpet, flugelhorh
Joe Henderson - tenor sax
Stanley Clarke - bass
Lennie White - drums

TRACKS/FAIXAS:
1. Them There Eyes
2. All Of Me
3. I Mean You
4. I Loves You Porgy
5. Take The A Train
6. I Hear Music
7. Hire Wire
8. All Of Me (Alt. Vers.)
9. Spring Can Really Hang You Up The Most (+ Interview)