Customer Reviews

Prelusion / Before the Dawn

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I first got into Patrice Rushin's music opon returning from Saigon in 1975! Being an avid Herbie Handcock fan, I had herd that she came highly recommended by him. I was facinated by the tune "Before the dawn" as were my Nam buddies!The biggest thrill came when we accually met her in Hawaii in early 76. She was so cool, and I tried my best to get her out on a date being that we were the same age. (I think she might have went, had my friend not been such a "Block", LOL! We continued to be fans of her music well into the 90s, but still there was desire to see her return to "straight ahead" jazz! I can't recommend "Before the Dawn" enough! Once out of print, but now through the magic of compact disk, bigger and better than ever!

I owned both of these albums on vinyl but I'm sure glad I repurchased them on CD. I've always loved Patrice's music and I forgot how good her early music sounded. I especially love Jubilation and and Before the Dawn. It was also great to hear some vintage 1970's Joe Henderson and Hubert Laws solos. A great supporting cast.....I highly recommend this CD. 200 Stars!!

jazzy start for Rushen at her roots before going mainstream. nice slow cuts, upper tempo ones not that impressive.

This was purchased as a Christmas gift for my Fateher. Product arrived on time and in perfect condition. Would consider buying from seller again.

I have been after the album Prelusion for years and managed to buy the re-issue along with Before the Dawn last year. The standout track has to be H'Awright Now (imagine Herbie Hancock Rhodes solo's 1973-1977), although this isn't really indicative of the rest of the album, which is more in the style of Herbie (again) Speak like a Child era... modal jazz.

I don't really care much for the tracks on Before the Dawn as they sound very dated, but Celebration is a great Chick Corea'esque latin track with great flute solos from Hubert Laws.

The lineup features the top jazz/fusion artists at the time (Bob James, Dave Grusin, Lee Ritenour, George Benson and other fusion heavyweights) so it has a mix of R&B, funk and jazz. The disco-funk songs are bearable but the most of the lyrics lower them down to the level of mindless, shake-yo-booty type grooves. The instrumental cuts and level of top-notch musicianship are what keeps this album from becoming just another pop-jazz outing that I would have given only two stars.

But I'll STILL give this album four stars simply because "What's Goin' On". This one cut alone is worth a extra star. This version features the same tight rhythm section featured on George Benson's "Breezin'" and "In Flight" albums. Although the song is supposed to be a somber tune, Harvey Mason's arrangement turns into an upbeat, finger-snapping joy. Harvey is kind enough to let George and Jorge do their thing while he sits back and keeps a solid groove going. I dare say that this song was probably intended for a George Benson album but was dropped for some reason or another. Regardless, this is the best remake of the old Marvin Gaye classic.

In any case; it's certainly worth checking out.

Perhaps she sounds best when she is composing in the pop music idiom (verses, choruses and hooks).

After listening to this album, I now understand why there are such things as jazz standards (=useful for separating a performer's compositional ability from their skills at constructing solos/ etc).

The songs here were good jazz songs with complex solos and chord progressions-- and that is to be expected from jazz, but there were no chances for me to listen to a well known melody and find ways in which Rushen could make said melody interesting.

This is definitely not worth more than secondhand or mp3 purchase price.