Pizzazz
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Album Summary
Patrice Rushen brought her remarkable gifts as a pianist, vocalist, and composer together on 'Pizzazz,' released in 1979 on Elektra Records. Already celebrated in jazz circles for her earlier work, Rushen stepped fully into the warmth of funk, soul, and disco with this album, crafting a set of songs that felt tailor-made for both the dancefloor and the late-night quiet of your living room. Produced with a polished yet deeply soulful touch, 'Pizzazz' showcased Rushen's rare ability to move between shimmering disco grooves and heartfelt soul balladry without ever losing her identity as a serious musician and arranger.
Reception
- "Haven't You Heard" emerged as the album's breakout track, earning significant radio airplay and helping to establish Rushen as a crossover force in the late-disco era.
- Critics noted that Rushen's classical and jazz training gave 'Pizzazz' an sophistication that set it apart from much of the mainstream funk and disco product of the period.
- The album performed well enough on the R&B charts to solidify Rushen's commercial footing at Elektra and set the stage for her continued success into the early 1980s.
Significance
- "Pizzazz" stands as a key document of the late-1970s moment when soul, funk, and disco were at their most elegantly intertwined, and Rushen embodied that synthesis with uncommon grace and musicality.
- Patrice Rushen's prominence on this album as both performer and creative force helped pave the way for a generation of Black women artist-musicians who refused to be confined to a single genre or role in the industry.
- The album's blend of sophisticated chord work, lush arrangements, and irresistible grooves placed it at the intersection of jazz-informed soul and pop accessibility — a space very few artists of the era navigated as convincingly as Rushen did.
Samples
- "Haven't You Heard" — one of the most sampled tracks in Rushen's catalog, its infectious keyboard hook and groove have been lifted by numerous hip-hop and R&B producers across the decades, appearing in works by artists including En Vogue and others throughout the 1990s and beyond.
- "Givin' It Up Is Givin' Up" — sampled by various hip-hop artists drawn to its deep, rolling funk pocket and Rushen's silky vocal delivery.
- "Let The Music Take Me" — its buoyant rhythmic foundation has attracted the attention of producers mining late-1970s funk and disco for raw material.
Tracklist
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A1 Let The Music Take Me 136
6:50
-
A2 Keepin' Faith In Love —
4:07
-
A3 Settle For My Love 126
5:15
-
A4 Message In The Music 133
3:00
-
B1 Haven't You Heard 127
6:44
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B2 Givin' It Up Is Givin' Up 152
4:58
-
B3 Call On Me 133
6:47
-
B4 Reprise (Message In The Music) 134
0:58
Artist Details
Patrice Rushen is a supremely gifted Los Angeles-born musician, composer, and vocalist who came up through the jazz world in the early 1970s before crossing over into the silky realm of R&B and funk, blessing us with grooves so deep they could hold water. She laid down some of the most sophisticated and soulful sounds of the late 70s and early 80s, most notably the irresistible 1982 classic Forget Me Nots, a track so infectious it became the backbone of countless hip-hop samples for decades to come. Beyond her recording artistry, Rushen broke serious ground as one of the first Black women to music direct major television productions, making her not just a titan of the turntable but a trailblazer whose influence echoes through every corner of American music and entertainment.
