E1-60021 Echoes of an Era
Produced by Lenny White
Released on 1982
no chart information
Find it at GEMM
E1-60021 cover
[high resolution scan]		  

I like RTF, so I picked up Echoes of an Era and Griffith Park Collection when they came out. Both bored the pants off me, and I ended up giving Griffith Park away. Loads of talent on these recordings (Freddie Hubbard and Joe Henderson on horns) but not a whole lot to say. Echoes took a gamble by letting Chaka Khan chew up eight classics. Her voice is the lightning rod in the room: you’re either attracted to it or freaked out that it’s in there. Personally, I’m pretty freaked out by her voice most of the time. I can listen to her without wincing, but to say that the horn solos of Henderson and Hubbard bring me relief is an understatement. Since I can only listen to people talk about jazz for about fifteen before I want to tweak their little red tomahto nose, maybe I’m not the best judge of Echoes. You really need to buy into the idea that jazz is this evolving dialogue between the past and the future or something. You need to buy into the idea that Chaka Khan’s vocal interpretations make you hear classic music in a new way, and not in the way that The Chipmunks made you hear it. Whether you want to pay fifteen bucks to buy all that, that’s your decision. If you’re intrigued by jazz titans from the ‘70s playing old school jazz, I’d point you toward Herbie Hancock’s VSOP engagements instead (Freddie Hubbard was involved in both projects).

E1-60021 back cover
E1-60021 back cover

TRACK LISTING

  1. THEM THERE EYES    (Maceo Pinkard/William Tracy/Doris Tauber)    3:50
  2. ALL OF ME    (Seymour Simons/Gerald Marks)    4:31
  3. I MEAN YOU    (Thelonius Monk/Coleman Hawkins)    3:25
  4. I LOVE YOU PORGY    (George Gershwin/Ira Gershwin)    6:25
  5. TAKE THE A TRAIN    (Billy Strayhorn)    6:23
  6. I HEAR MUSIC    (Frank Loesser/Burton Lane)    4:20
  7. HIGH WIRE-THE AERIALIST    (Chick Corea/Tony Cohen)    6:40
  8. ALL OF ME (ALTERNATE TAKE)    (Seymour Smons/Gerald Marks)    4:26
  9. SPRING CAN REALLY HANG YOU UP THE MOST    (Tommy Wolf/Fran Landesman)    8:25

CREDITS

STANLEY CLARKE -- acoustic bass
CHICK COREA -- piano, arrangements
JOE HENDERSON -- tenor saxophone
FREDDIE HUBBARD -- flugelhorn & trumpet
CHAKA KHAN -- vocals
LENNY WHITE -- drums
Bernie Kirsh -- recording engineer
Ron Coro -- art direction
Kristen Kasell Nikosey -- design
Diem Jones -- photography

REGION RELEASE DATE LABEL MEDIA ID NUMBER FEATURES
US 1982 Elektra LP E1-60021  
NET February 28, 2003 Rhino CD 73781  

 

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