What wasn’t effectively communicated was the fact that as Patrice continued to release albums well into the late 1990s (14 solo albums in total), she never completely severed ties with her Jazz influences or peers. Rushen’s genre shift was seen as jumping the ship from her previous career in Jazz for a more fruitful and lucrative commercial Pop career. While this brought Patrice a new brand of fans, it was accompanied by criticism from existing jazz audiences. The attention garnered from this earned her a contract with the Prestige label. In her teens, she won a solo competition at the 1972 Monterey Jazz Festival. This album was the first (of many more) LPs that illustrated Rushen’s star power and ability to adapt within the industry. Born September 30, 1954, in Los Angeles, CA, Rushen’s parents enrolled her in music classes at USC when she was three. As she concluded her contract with Prestige Records and signed with Elektra Records, Rushen fully embraced her transition towards becoming R&B singer and released Patrice in 1978. There was a stylistic shift with each album release that brought in elements of fusion, R&B, and pop into her jazz music backing. At the school teacher’s recommendation, Ruth and Allen enrolled Patrice in the USC program for the following two years before putting her in formal piano training at the age of 5.Ĭontinuing her music education all the way through to earn a degree in music (also from the University of Southern California), Rushen later signed to Prestige Records and released her first three albums ( Prelusion, Before The Dawn, and Shout It Out) with a strong instrumental-only jazz focus. At the time, the University of Southern California (USC) was in the midst of running an early music education program, observing how children engage with and develop connections to music. Patrice’s nursery school teacher approached her family when she’d noticed how well their daughter would engage when the class would do musical activities. Meet Patrice Rushen, The Musical Child Prodigyīorn September 30th, 1954 to parents Ruth and Allen Rushen in Los Angeles, California, Patrice formed a strong connection with music that would persist throughout her lifetime.
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