''ClassiKhan'' is the tenth studio album by

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

R&B/

funk Funk is a music genre that originated in African American communities in the mid-1960s when musicians created a rhythmic, danceable new form of music through a mixture of various music genres that were popular among African Americans in the m ...

singer

Chaka Khan Yvette Marie Stevens (born March 23, 1953), better known by her stage name Chaka Khan (), is an American singer. Her career has spanned more than five decades, beginning in the 1970s as the lead vocalist of the funk band Rufus. Known as the " Qu ...

, featuring the London Symphony Orchestra, Produced and arranged by Eve Nelson and released in 2004 on the at the time still independent label Sanctuary Records in the U.K., on Earthsong/AgU Music Group in the U.S. and in 2005 also in Japan on

JVC Victor , also known as in Japan, is a subsidiary of JVCKenwood that produces and distributes music, movies and other entertainment products such as anime and television shows in Japan. It is known as JVC Entertainment in countries where Sony Music Ente ...

. As Allmusic point out in their review, with Khan's well-known affinity and acclaim for interpreting jazz standards in mind, which through most of her career on the Warner Bros. label had been relegated to the backburner, an album with the title ''ClassiKhan'' could at first glance very easily be mistaken for being a belated sequel to 1982's ''

Echoes of an Era ''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 standar ...

''. While the album indeed does focus on jazz and swing standards like "Stormy Weather", "Hazel's Hips", "Round Midnight" and "Teach Me Tonight" it also features an eclectic selection of classics from other genres, like pop culture favourites such as Broadway show tune "Hey Big Spender" from the musical ''

Sweet Charity ''Sweet Charity'' is a musical with music by Cy Coleman, lyrics by Dorothy Fields and book by Neil Simon. It was directed and choreographed for Broadway by Bob Fosse starring his wife and muse Gwen Verdon alongside John McMartin. It is based on ...

'',

Peggy Lee Norma Deloris Egstrom (May 26, 1920 – January 21, 2002), known professionally as Peggy Lee, was an American jazz and popular music singer, songwriter, composer, and actress, over a career spanning seven decades. From her beginning as a vocalis ...

's "Is That All There Is?" penned by Leiber & Stoller and even a 60's country and western classic in the form of Patsy Cline's " Crazy", written by Willie Nelson. ''ClassiKhan'' also features the themes of classic film favourites from Khan's youth, "To Sir With Love" and the James Bond themes " Goldfinger" and " Diamonds Are Forever". The collection concludes with one new composition, the ballad "I Believe", co-written by Khan and the album's producer Ira Shickman. The title ''ClassiKhan'' is naturally also a reference to Khan's accompaniment on the set. On the ''Echoes of an Era'' album it was a five-piece all-star jazz ensemble, on ''ClassiKhan'' it is The New York All Star Musicians - but with the addition of the full London Symphony Orchestra, conducted and arranged by Eve Nelson and with orchestrations by producer Ira Schickman and Gary Anderson. The album was mainly recorded at London's legendary

Abbey Road Studios Abbey Road Studios (formerly EMI Recording Studios) is a recording studio at 3 Abbey Road, St John's Wood, City of Westminster, London, England. It was established in November 1931 by the Gramophone Company, a predecessor of British music c ...

and it features guest appearances by among others pianist Joe Sample and percussionist

Sheila E. Sheila Cecilia Escovedo (born December 12, 1957) better known under the stage name Sheila E., is an American percussionist and singer. She began her career in the mid-1970s as a percussionist and singer for The George Duke Band. After leaving t ...

, best known for her work with Prince. ''ClassiKhan'' was both a critical and commercial success, even reaching #42 on ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

s R&B albums chart. As of 2005 it has sold 46,000 copies in United States according to

Nielsen SoundScan Luminate (formerly Nielsen SoundScan, Nielsen Music Products, and MRC Data) is a provider of music sales data. Established by Mike Fine and Mike Shalett in 1991, data is collected weekly and made available every Sunday (for albums sales) and eve ...

Track listing

# "

Hey Big Spender "Big Spender" is a song written by Cy Coleman and Dorothy Fields for the musical ''Sweet Charity'', first performed in 1966. Peggy Lee was the first artist to record the song for her album of the same name also that year. It is sung, in the mus ...

" (

Cy Coleman Cy Coleman (born Seymour Kaufman; June 14, 1929 – November 18, 2004) was an American composer, songwriter, and jazz pianist. Life and career Coleman was born Seymour Kaufman in New York City, United States, to Eastern European Jewish parents ...

, Dorothy Fields) - 3:18 # "Hazel's Hips" ( Oscar Brown) - 2:59 # "

Best Is Yet to Come Best Is Yet to Come and variations of the term may refer to: * "Best Is Yet to Come", a song by Red from ''Until We Have Faces ''Until We Have Faces'' is the third studio album by American Christian rock band Red. It was released on February 1, ...

" (

Carolyn Leigh Carolyn Leigh (August 21, 1926 – November 19, 1983) was an American lyricist for Broadway, film, and popular songs. She is best known as the writer with partner Cy Coleman of the pop standards "Witchcraft" and "The Best Is Yet to Come". With ...

, Cy Coleman) - 4:44 # " Crazy" ( Willie Nelson) - 3:09 # " I'm in the Mood for Love" ( Dorothy Fields, Jimmy McHugh) - 3:47 # " Is That All There Is?" ( Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller) - 3:58 # " Stormy Weather" (

Harold Arlen Harold Arlen (born Hyman Arluck; February 15, 1905 – April 23, 1986) was an American composer of popular music, who composed over 500 songs, a number of which have become known worldwide. In addition to composing the songs for the 1939 film ...

, Ted Koehler) - 4:37 # " 'Round Midnight" ( Bernard Hanighen, Charles "Cootie" Williams, Thelonious Monk) - 4:30 # " Teach Me Tonight" (

Gene de Paul Gene Vincent de Paul (June 17, 1919 – February 27, 1988) was an American pianist, composer and songwriter. Biography Born in New York City, he served in the United States Army during World War II. He was married to Billye Louise Files (Novem ...

, Sammy Cahn) - 4:11 # "

To Sir with Love ''To Sir, with Love'' is a 1967 British drama film that deals with social and racial issues in an inner city school. It stars Sidney Poitier and features Christian Roberts, Judy Geeson, Suzy Kendall and singer Lulu making her film debut. James ...

" ( Donald Black, Mark London) - 4:23 # " Diamonds Are Forever" (Donald Black, John Barry) - 3:02 # " Goldfinger" ( Anthony Newley, John Barry, Leslie Bricusse) - 3:08 # "I Believe" (

, Ira Schickman) - 3:34 # "To Sir with Love" (Barry Harris Club Mix) (Donald Black, Mark London) - 8:56 #* Japanese bonus track

Personnel

- vocals * Andy Snitzer -

clarinet The clarinet is a musical instrument in the woodwind family. The instrument has a nearly cylindrical bore and a flared bell, and uses a single reed to produce sound. Clarinets comprise a family of instruments of differing sizes and pitches ...

alto saxophone The alto saxophone is a member of the saxophone family of woodwind instruments. Saxophones were invented by Belgian instrument designer Adolphe Sax in the 1840s and patented in 1846. The alto saxophone is pitched in E, smaller than the B tenor ...

, tenor saxophone * Charles Pillow - clarinet, oboe, alto saxophone * Joe Sample - piano * Eve Nelson - piano (track: 13) *

- percussion (tracks: 4, 6, 10 to 12) * Jay Anderson - acoustic bass * Ray Cervenka - bass (track: 10) * Kevin Kuhn -

acoustic guitar An acoustic guitar is a musical instrument in the string family. When a string is plucked its vibration is transmitted from the bridge, resonating throughout the top of the guitar. It is also transmitted to the side and back of the instrument, ...

, electric guitar * Dennis Mackrel -

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

Lee Musiker Lee Musiker (born May 26, 1956) is an Americans, American Grammy Award-winner jazz pianist, arranger, orchestrator and conductor. Biography Born in New York City in 1956, Mr. Musiker studied music theory and piano at the Manhattan School of Music ...

- piano * New York All Star Musicians - performers * London Symphony Orchestra - orchestra * Roger Rosenberg -

bassoon The bassoon is a woodwind instrument in the double reed family, which plays in the tenor and bass ranges. It is composed of six pieces, and is usually made of wood. It is known for its distinctive tone color, wide range, versatility, and virtuo ...

bass clarinet The bass clarinet is a musical instrument of the clarinet family. Like the more common soprano B clarinet, it is usually pitched in B (meaning it is a transposing instrument on which a written C sounds as B), but it plays notes an octave bel ...

baritone saxophone The baritone saxophone is a member of the saxophone family of instruments, larger (and lower-pitched) than the tenor saxophone, but smaller (and higher-pitched) than the bass. It is the lowest-pitched saxophone in common use - the bass, contra ...

* Timothy Ries - flute, tenor & alto saxophone * Ann Elisworth - French horn * Chris Komar - French horn * John Clark Sr. - French horn * Karen Vaughan -

harp The harp is a stringed musical instrument that has a number of individual strings running at an angle to its soundboard; the strings are plucked with the fingers. Harps can be made and played in various ways, standing or sitting, and in orche ...

(principal) * David Jackson - percussion (principal) * Dennis Anderson - tenor saxophone, clarinet * David Pietro - alto & tenor saxophone, flute * Nigel Thomas - timpani (principal) * M. Birch Johnson - trombone * Michael Davis - trombone * George - bass & tenor trombone * Dave Stahl - trumpet * James Hynes - trumpet * Anthony Kadleck - trumpet * Carmine Lauri - first violin, leader * Caroline O-Neill - violin (first) * Claire Parfitt - violin (first) * Colin Renwick - violin (first) * Ginette Decuyper - violin (first) * Gordon McKay - violin (first) * Harriet Rayfield - violin (first) * Ian Rhodes - violin (first) * Jorg Hammann - violin (first) * Maxine Kwok - violin (first) * Michael Humphrey - violin (first) * Nicholas Wright - violin (first) * Nicole Wilson - violin (first) * Nigel Broadbent - violin (first) * Robin Brightman - violin (first) * Sylvain Vasseur - violin (first) * Evgeny Grach - violin (second, principal) * Andrew Pollock - violin (second) * Belinda McFarlane - violin (second) * David Ballesteros - violin (second) * Ian McDonough - violin (second) *

Louise Shackelton David Wright Miliband (born 15 July 1965) is the president and chief executive officer (CEO) of the International Rescue Committee and a former Labour Party (UK), British Labour Party politician. He was the Foreign Secretary from 2007 to 2010 a ...

- violin (second) * Matthew Gardner - violin (second) * Norman Clarke - violin (second) * Paul Robson - violin (second) * Richard Blayden - violin (second) * Sarah Quinn - violin (second) * Stephen Rowlinson - violin (second) * Tammy Se - violin (second) * Tiberiu Buta - violin (second) * Paul Silvethorne - viola (principal) * Gillianne Haddow - viola (co-principal) * Duff Burns - viola * Elisabeth Varlow - viola * Gina Zagni - viola * Jonathan Welch - viola * Peter Norriss - viola * Regina Beukes - viola * Robert Turner - viola * Moray Welsh - cello (principal) * Rebecca Gilliver - cello (co-principal) * Francis Saunders - cello * Hilary Jones - cello * Jennifer Brown - cello * Nicholas Gethin - cello * Noel Bradshaw - cello * Ray Adams - cello

Producer

* Eve Nelson - record producer, musical arranger, orchestral conductor * Ira Schickman - writer producer (track: 13) *

- additional production, executive producer * Stu Ric - executive producer * Tammy McCrary - executive producer * Bernadette O'Reilly - Project Supervisor (Production Company) Nelson-O'Reilly Productions * Ray Cervenka - additional production and Pro Tools editor (all tracks except:9 ) * Joe Sample - piano arrangement (tracks: 7 to 9) * Arnold Mischkulnig - Pro Tools editor * Andy Sntizer - Pro Tools editor (track: 9) * Gary Anderson - musical arranger (track: 5), orchestrator (tracks: 4, 5, 10, 12), copyist, music preparation, New York All Star Musicians contractor, additional score preparation (tracks: 7 to 9) * Shari Feder - orchestrator (tracks: 1 to 3, 6, 11) * Alan Silverman - audio mastering * Cynthia Daniels - audio mixing, recording * Drew Griffiths - assistant engineer * Raymond McKinley - assistant engineer * Sam O'Kell - assistant engineer * Recorded at

, London; Whitfield Street Studios, London; Clinton Recording, NYC and Blue 52 Studio. * Mixed at Old Stone Studios. * Additional editing at 22nd St. Street Studios. * Mastered at ARFI Digital Studios, NYC, NY. * Norman Scott - photography * Giulio Costanzo -

art direction Art director is the title for a variety of similar job functions in theater, advertising, marketing, publishing, fashion, film and television, the Internet, and video games. It is the charge of a sole art director to supervise and unify the visi ...

, design

References

{{Authority control Chaka Khan albums 2004 albums Vocal jazz albums Covers albums