Patrice Rushen

Prelusion (Remastered 2024)

Kamil Rustam

Warped Memories

Gerry Gibbs

Kenny Barron

Chick Corea

Songs From My Father

I Was Tired of Being Alone (12" Version)

Alan Fitzpatrick

Haven't You Heard (Butch Remix)

Posh (Remastered)

Haven't You Heard

Derek Oleszkiewicz

Leon "Ndugu" Chancler

Piano, Bass and Drums

Signature

Patrice

Straight From The Heart

Stanley Clarke

Ndugu Chancler

Standards

Shout It Out

Watch Out!

Straight from the Heart (Remastered)

Before The Dawn (Deluxe Japanese Import Edition)

Prelusion

Songs From My Father is the much-anticipated new album from renowned musical polymath Gerry Gibbs. On his thirteenth release as a leader, drummer-percussionist-bandleader-arranger Gibbs presents a smashing double-disc masterwork featuring four iterations of his acclaimed Thrasher Dream Trio. Under his astute direction, Gibbs and his band of jazz titans pay homage to the musical legacy of Gerry's 96-year-old father, Terry Gibbs. To honor Terry, one of the last living architects of bebop and innovators of the vibraphone, Gerry selected 18 tunes from his father’s vast discography and interpreted the timeless material through his own refined compositional lens with inventive, modern arrangements. In the throes of a global pandemic, Gibbs then went on a nationwide trek to capture recordings of himself alongside a long list of his friends and collaborators – the finest improvisors of our time. Notably, "Songs From My Father" features the last recorded performance of the great Chick Corea, and includes one of Chick's tunes composed specifically for this project. With Gibbs in the drum chair, his Thrasher Dream Trios include Chick Corea and Ron Carter, Kenny Barron and Buster Williams, Patrice Rushen and Larry Goldings, and Geoff Keezer and Christian McBride. With this monumental new recording, Gerry Gibbs cements his standing as one of the most creative and forward-thinking musicians on the contemporary jazz scene.

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. (If you were born after the mid-'70s or so, you'd be more likely to recognize the song as the basis of Will Smith's "Men in Black.") Beyond a forgettable ballad or two, the only disappointment is the Brenda Russell collaboration on "Breakout!," where rock affectations (gnarling electric guitar, grimacing vocal tactics that suit neither Rushen nor Russell) damage what could've been a bigger hit. "Remind Me," despite not being released as a single, is a sweet and low-slung groove that has been sampled and interpolated by no less than a dozen significant rap and R&B songs -- including Faith Evans' "Fallin' in Love," Notorious B.I.G.'s "Unbelievable," MoKenStef's "He's Mine," and Junior M.A.F.I.A.'s "I Need You Tonight." But it's not like anything about this album requires that kind of validation. [Rhino's 1996 reissue adds the 12" versions of all three singles, including seven very replayable minutes of "Forget Me Nots," as well as two single edits.]

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