Chaka Khan - Echoes Of An Era 1982 (Recorded 81-82)

 

Echoes of an Era is an album by American R&B/jazz singer Chaka Khan, Joe Henderson, Freddie Hubbard, Chick Corea, Stanley Clarke and Lenny White, released in 1982 on Elektra Records.

On Echoes of an Era, the group interprets jazz standards and songs from the Great American Songbook. The album was originally credited to Echoes of an Era, with all six performers listed on the album cover and Khan getting top billing.

The album was digitally remastered and re-released by the Warner Music Group's sublabel Rhino Entertainment in 2003. The final track of the reissue, "Spring Can Really Hang You Up the Most", included bonus audio of an interview with Chaka Khan and Freddie Hubbard in an interview lasting a little over 7 minutes.

In 2011, Corea, Clarke and White's group Return to Forever recorded "High Wire – The Aerialist" and "I Loves You Porgy" with Khan on vocals.

 In 1982, soul goddess Chaka Khan did the unexpected when she recorded this excellent, straight-ahead jazz LP. Regrettably, the album was released under the name Echoes of an Era instead of under Khan's own name -- so it wasn't nearly the big seller it probably would have been if Elektra had fully exploited Khan's connection with the project. But while Echoes of an Era was the victim of questionable marketing, it was a creative triumph. Joined by Joe Henderson on tenor sax, Freddie Hubbard on trumpet and flugelhorn, Chick Corea on acoustic piano, Stanley Clarke on upright bass, and Lenny White on drums, Khan demonstrates that she is quite capable of handling hard bop and straight-ahead jazz. Corea, Clarke, and White had all been members of the fusion powerhouse of the '70s Return to Forever, but make no mistake -- Echoes of an Era is very much an acoustic bop date. With White producing and Corea handling the arrangements, the singer swings aggressively and really soars on Thelonious Monk's "I Mean You" and Duke Ellington's "Take the 'A' Train," as well as on "Spring Can Really Hang You Up the Most," "All of Me," and "I Loves You Porgy." In fact, Khan's jazz singing is so strong that one cannot help but wonder what would have happened if jazz had been her dominant direction instead of R&B.