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Best known for her superb
1984 cover of Prince's "I Feel for You," R&B singer Chaka Khan
enjoyed solo success as well as popularity as a member of the group
Rufus. Born Yvette Marie Stevens in Great Lakes, IL, on March 23,
1953, she was raised on Chicago's South Side, and at the age of 11
formed her first group, the Crystalettes. While still in high
school, she joined the Afro-Arts Theater, a group which toured with
Motown great Mary Wells; a few years later, she adopted the African
name Chaka Khan while working on the Black Panthers' breakfast
program. After quitting high school in 1969, Khan joined the group
Lyfe, soon exiting to join another dance band, the Babysitters;
neither was on the fast track to success, but her fortunes changed
when she teamed with ex-American Breed member Kevin Murphy and Andrι
Fisher to form Rufus.
Debuting in 1973 with a
self-titled effort on the ABC label, Rufus was among the pre-eminent
funk groups of the decade; distinguished by Khan's dynamic vocals,
the group earned half a dozen gold or platinum albums before she
went solo in 1978. Produced by Arif Mardin, Chaka proved to
be a significant hit on the strength of the single "I'm Every Woman"
(a hit over a decade later for Whitney Houston); however, Khan's
success was somewhat tempered by her public rivalry with the
remaining members of Rufus, to whom she was still contractually
bound for two more LPs. (Their differences were eventually resolved
in a 1982 concert at New York's Savoy Theater, issued as Stompin'
at the Savoy.) As a solo artist, Khan recorded backing vocals
for Ry Cooder's 1979 effort Bop Till You Drop, then cut her
sophomore album, 1980's Naughty; it was not a hit, however,
nor was its follow-up, What Cha'
Gonna Do for Me.
In 1982, Khan recorded
Echoes of an Era, a collection of jazz standards featuring
performances from Freddie Hubbard, Joe Henderson, Stanley Clarke,
Chick Corea, and Lenny White. Her pop career was on shaky ground
when she released 1984's I Feel for You, a platinum-seller
launched by its title cut, a Grammy-winning, rap-inspired rendition
(featuring memorable cameos from Melle Mel and Stevie Wonder) of a
fairly obscure Prince album track. Still, while subsequent LPs like
1986's Destiny and 1988's C.K. kept Khan riding high
on the R&B charts, her standing in pop's mainstream again began to
wane, and at the end of the 1980s, she relocated to Europe. In 1990,
she won another Grammy for "I'll Be Good to You," a duet with Ray
Charles. Come 2 My House appeared in 1998.
ALBUM REVIEW - MASTER JAM
 As Khan
released her first solo album, I'm Every Woman, the band released
1978's Numbers, sans Khan, and it went absolutely nowhere.
Masterjam finds them back together, renamed Rufus and Chaka,
with Quincy Jones producing the effort. Khan had worked with Jones
on his 1978 album, Sounds...And Stuff Like That. The most striking
thing about Masterjam is that is doesn't sound like a
trademark Rufus effort. Jones' production style is so strong that
the band's individual sound is all but lost. It's nothing to cry
about, since Jones was at his R&B/pop peak and Rufus couldn't do
it any better on their own. The album's first track is "Do What
You Love What You Feel," with its subtle horn riffs arranged by
Jerry Hey and vocals from guitarist Tony Maiden and Khan. On a
track somewhat close to a ballad, the brilliantly arranged "Heaven
Bound," Jones gets a good raw vocal from Khan. A frequent Jones
collaborator, Rod Temperton, offers the title track and the even
better "Live in Me." The album's only low point was a cover of
Jones' own "Body Heat." On this version the pace is quickened,
inexplicably turned into disco which revealed the lyrics to be
paper-thin. Although Masterjam was just more of a Quincy
Jones album than a Rufus effort, this ended up being one of the
groups' last successful full-studio endeavors.
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