Pizzazz is the fifth album by American singer Patrice Rushen, released in 1979.
While she was attacked for leaving the jazz genre, Rushen was able to get a good fan base with an R&B/Pop audience. Rushen's profile in the R&B world continued to increase with Pizzazz, her second album for Elektra Records. Rushen drew on such influences as Earth, Wind & Fire, Minnie Riperton, Stevie Wonder, and The Emotions. Rushen was able get the R&B lover's attention with songs such as the funky opener "Let the Music Take Me," the soulful ballad "Settle for My Love," and the perky "Keepin' Faith in Love." Pizzazz received plenty of attacks from jazz critics, who accused Rushen of being a traitor, but from an R&B/Pop perspective the album is considered one of Rushen's most rewarding and essential albums.
The Boston Globe called Pizzazz a "really a good disco album, with a few non-disco numbers to break the monotony... The non-disco cuts are slower funk tunes which often recall Earth, Wind and Fire."[3]
Pizzazz was her second highest-charting album, reaching #39 in 1979. It features the hit single "Haven't You Heard." The single soared to the top of R&B radio playlists and is among Rushen's biggest hits.
Marilyn Baker, Harry Bluestone, Ronald Cooper, Endre Granat, William Henderson, Carl LaMagna, Robert Lipsett, Nils Oliver, Jerome Reisler, Art Royval, Terudo Shoenbrun, Robert Sushell, Barbara Thomason, Charles Veal Jr. and Kenneth Yerke – string performers
Production
Patrice Rushen – producer, executive producer
Reggie Andrews – producer
Charles Mims Jr. – producer
Peter Chaikin – engineer
Chris Gordon – assistant engineer
Phil Moores – assistant engineer
Chip Orlando – assistant engineer
F. Byron Clark – remixing
Chris Bellman – mastering
Allen Zentz Mastering (San Clemente, California) – mastering location