Patrice Rushen was 20 when she recorded her debut album, "Prelusion." At this stage in her career she was very much an instrumental jazz artist, and it would have been hard to predict the R&B vocalist she would become a half decade later. On "Prelusion", she plays straight ahead soul-jazz, with occasional fusion references. Rushen plays a variety of keyboards, and is backed up by the likes of Joe Henderson on sax and Oscar Brashear on trumpet. "Before The Dawn," released a year later, featured flautist Hubert Laws and guitarist Lee Ritenour. Here Rushen gets into a fuller exploration of fusion, with references to R&B, rock and pop. The only track with vocals, "What's The Story," features singer Josie James in a song highly predictive of the style Rushen herself would adopt when she switched labels and made the musical move to R&B in '78. Both these albums are available on a "twofer" CD, so these covers are for the purist who wants original covers for each set.
Album info. on Discogs:
2-for-1 CD available on Amazon:
(amazon.com) Prelusion & Before the Dawn
(amazon.ca) Prelusion & Before the Dawn
(amazon.co.uk) Prelusion & Before The Dawn
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