PATRICE RUSHEN’S DEBUT ALBUM PRELUSION TO GET TOP SHELF REISSUE

Image

We’re honored to celebrate the five-decade-long career of singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist Patrice Rushen with a reissue of her long-out-of-print debut, Prelusion. While the three-time GRAMMY® nominee became best known as an R&B singer and barrier-breaking musical director, this 1974 album showcases Rushen’s talents as a jazz musician, composer, and improviser and features such esteemed sidemen as Joe Henderson, Oscar Brashear, and George Bohanon.

Set for release on August 23rd and available for pre-order today, Prelusion marks the latest title in our album-centric Top Shelf series—which reissues the highest-quality, hand-picked rarities. As with all releases in the series, the LP features all-analog remastering by Kevin Gray at Cohearent Audio and is pressed on 180-gram vinyl at RTI. A tip-on jacket, replicating Prelusion’s original design, completes the package.

In 1982, Patrice Rushen soared to stratospheric heights with her GRAMMY-nominated album, Straight from the Heart (featuring the enduring hit, “Forget Me Nots”). Yet, while Rushen found international fame as an R&B singer-songwriter, her career was actually rooted in jazz tradition. Just eight years earlier, at the age of 20, she embarked on her musical journey with Prelusion—a spectacular debut that introduced Rushen as a formidable new star on the jazz scene.

A classically trained pianist, Rushen scored her big break at 17, earning a chance to perform at the prestigious Monterey Jazz Festival after winning a high school talent competition. Before long, she caught the attention of legendary label Prestige Records (home to such greats as John Coltrane, Miles Davis, Sonny Rollins, and Thelonious Monk), who signed the promising teenager to a three-album deal.

The first of these recordings was Prelusion, which paired Rushen with some of the era’s top-tier musicians, including Joe Henderson (tenor saxophone), Oscar Brashear (trumpet), Hadley Caliman (Flute), George Bohanon (Trombone), Leon “Ndugu” Chancler (drums), Tony Dumas (bass), and Kenneth Nash (percussion). The album also marked Rushen’s first of many projects with her longtime producer and mentor, Reggie Andrews.

Rushen not only shines as a musician on the album—where she switches between the piano, electric keyboard, synth, and clavinet—but also as a composer, with five original works. Performing primarily post-bop selections (including the energetic opener, “Shortie’s Portion,” and the jaunty “Traverse”), Rushen also incorporates a variety of unique sonic textures, plus elements of fusion, as heard in the reflective, percussion-heavy “7/73,” the bluesy, Rhodes-driven “Haw-Right Now,” and the cosmic “Puttered Bopcorn.”

Released in 1974, Prelusion introduced Rushen as one of the genre’s most promising talents and marked the beginning of her long and celebrated career. In retrospective reviews, AllMusic praised that the album gave listeners “every reason to believe that [Rushen] would become a major figure in the jazz world,” adding, “One can only speculate on where her career in jazz might have gone had she not switched to R&B singing.” Downbeat, meanwhile, noted that Rushen’s “enchanting debut… boasted her extraordinary gifts as an improviser, composer and arranger” adding that “Rushen’s “impressionistic harmonies and intricate arrangements revealed a maturity well beyond her 20 years.”

After releasing two more jazz-focused albums (1975’s Before the Dawn and 1977’s Shout It Out), Rushen successfully transitioned into a career as an R&B singer-songwriter. In the ensuing years, she released such best-selling albums as the aforementioned Straight from the Heart (1982), Now (1984), and the GRAMMY-nominated Signature (1997), while hits like “Forget Me Nots” (1982) would later earn new generations of fans through sampling—most famously in Will Smith’s “Men in Black” (1997) and George Michael’s “Fastlove” (1996).

Beyond her solo career, Rushen is also an esteemed musical director and prolific composer for film and TV, including scores for Waiting to Exhale, Men in Black,HBO’s America’s Dream, and the theme song to The Steve Harvey Show. Among other accomplishments, Rushen stands as the first woman to serve as Musical Director for the 46th, 47th, and 48th GRAMMY Awards, the first woman to hold the role of Head Composer/Musical Director for the Emmy® Awards, as well as the first female Musical Director of both the NAACP Image Awards and People’s Choice Awards.

Click here to pre-order or stream Prelusion

Tracklist:

Side A:

1.      Shortie’s Portion

2.      7/73

Side B:

1.      Haw-Right Now

2.      Traverse

3.      Puttered Bopcorn

Featured image for “JAZZ DISPENSARY AND PURE BEAUTY ANNOUNCE THE GOLDEN HOUR EXPERIENCE”
Oct. 30, 2024

JAZZ DISPENSARY AND PURE BEAUTY ANNOUNCE THE GOLDEN HOUR EXPERIENCE

Featured image for “NEW COMPILATION THE GOLDEN HOUR COMING RSD BLACK FRIDAY 2024”
Oct. 02, 2024

NEW COMPILATION THE GOLDEN HOUR COMING RSD BLACK FRIDAY 2024

Featured image for “OPA’S FUSION EXPLOSION GOLDENWINGS RETURNS TO VINYL”
Aug. 06, 2024

OPA’S FUSION EXPLOSION GOLDENWINGS RETURNS TO VINYL

Featured image for “PATRICE RUSHEN’S DEBUT ALBUM PRELUSION TO GET TOP SHELF REISSUE”
Jun. 26, 2024

PATRICE RUSHEN’S DEBUT ALBUM PRELUSION TO GET TOP SHELF REISSUE

Featured image for “THE ROUND ROBIN MONOPOLY’S ALPHA REISSUED”
Apr. 23, 2024

THE ROUND ROBIN MONOPOLY’S ALPHA REISSUED

Featured image for “NEW COMPILATION THE FREEDOM SOUND! THE PEOPLE ARISE COMING RECORD STORE DAY 2024”
Feb. 15, 2024

NEW COMPILATION THE FREEDOM SOUND! THE PEOPLE ARISE COMING RECORD STORE DAY 2024

Featured image for “JOE HENDERSON’S HARD-BOP CLASSIC POWER TO THE PEOPLE REISSUED”
Jan. 09, 2024

JOE HENDERSON’S HARD-BOP CLASSIC POWER TO THE PEOPLE REISSUED

Featured image for “JOHNNY LYTLE’S SOUL-JAZZ CLASSIC PEOPLE & LOVE GETS A TOP SHELF REISSUE”
Dec. 06, 2023

JOHNNY LYTLE’S SOUL-JAZZ CLASSIC PEOPLE & LOVE GETS A TOP SHELF REISSUE

Featured image for “SWEET SWEETBACK’S BAADASSSSS SONG SCREENING AT BRAIN DEAD STUDIOS”
Nov. 10, 2023

SWEET SWEETBACK’S BAADASSSSS SONG SCREENING AT BRAIN DEAD STUDIOS

Featured image for “NEW COMPILATION AT THE MOVIES COMING RECORD STORE DAY BLACK FRIDAY ’23”
Oct. 02, 2023

NEW COMPILATION AT THE MOVIES COMING RECORD STORE DAY BLACK FRIDAY ’23

Featured image for “WOODY SHAW’S GROUNDBREAKING FREE JAZZ ALBUM BLACKSTONE LEGACY REISSUED”
Jul. 18, 2023

WOODY SHAW’S GROUNDBREAKING FREE JAZZ ALBUM BLACKSTONE LEGACY REISSUED

Featured image for “A TRIPLE GROOVE OF TOP SHELF REISSUES FROM IDRIS MUHAMMAD, JACK DeJOHNETTE, AND LEON SPENCER”
May. 30, 2023

A TRIPLE GROOVE OF TOP SHELF REISSUES FROM IDRIS MUHAMMAD, JACK DeJOHNETTE, AND LEON SPENCER

Featured image for “TWO NEW TOP SHELF REISSUES FROM DAVID AXELROD & BERNARD PURDIE”
Apr. 14, 2023

TWO NEW TOP SHELF REISSUES FROM DAVID AXELROD & BERNARD PURDIE

Featured image for “TAKE A TRIP TO THE FRENCH RIVIERA WITH OUR NEW COMPILATION HOTEL JOLIE DAME”
Feb. 16, 2023

TAKE A TRIP TO THE FRENCH RIVIERA WITH OUR NEW COMPILATION HOTEL JOLIE DAME

Featured image for “PLEASURE’S LONG-OUT-OF-PRINT DISCO-FUNK CLASSIC JOYOUS REISSUED”
Dec. 01, 2022

PLEASURE’S LONG-OUT-OF-PRINT DISCO-FUNK CLASSIC JOYOUS REISSUED

Featured image for “JOHNNY HAMMOND’S FUSION MASTERPIECE GEARS RETURNS TO VINYL”
Oct. 06, 2022

JOHNNY HAMMOND’S FUSION MASTERPIECE GEARS RETURNS TO VINYL

Featured image for “NEW COMPILATION HAUNTED HIGH COMING RECORD STORE DAY BLACK FRIDAY”
Sep. 15, 2022

NEW COMPILATION HAUNTED HIGH COMING RECORD STORE DAY BLACK FRIDAY

Featured image for “JAZZ DISPENSARY AND VINYL ME, PLEASE ANNOUNCE A SECOND COLLECTION OF REISSUES”
Jun. 27, 2022

JAZZ DISPENSARY AND VINYL ME, PLEASE ANNOUNCE A SECOND COLLECTION OF REISSUES

Featured image for “AZYMUTH’S TELECOMMUNICATION REISSUED ON 180-GRAM VINYL”
Jun. 15, 2022

AZYMUTH’S TELECOMMUNICATION REISSUED ON 180-GRAM VINYL

Featured image for “NEW RECORD STORE DAY COMPILATION SUPER SKUNK COMING APRIL 23RD”
Feb. 16, 2022

NEW RECORD STORE DAY COMPILATION SUPER SKUNK COMING APRIL 23RD