"Masterjam" was certified Platinum so it wasn't that underrated.

Overall, I'm not that crazy about the album, between George Benson & Michale Jackson who got the bulk of Uncle Q's attention, I'd say this one had the sloppy seconds treatment,,,,I prefer Camouflage over it.

LOL!! Now I see Camouflage as the "throw away" album, Q's throw away's were way better then this album IMO.

Now, this is the first time I'm ever hearing folks say they liked the "Camouflage" album! Even most of the folks over on Chaka's board aren't that crazy about that particular title.

As far as "Masterjam" is concerned, Chaka sounded fantastic on this album. She makes you forget all about the original version of "Body Heat" with her smoldering performance. "What Am I Missing" seems to strike a chord with a lot of people.

I wasn't that crazy about the later Rufus albums because Chaka was not the lead vocal on all of the songs. I once read because she was experiencing so much success as a solo artist, she simply wasn't showing up for some of the recording sessions with Rufus. Quincy said one time he had to wrestle her down to the ground and make her promise to start showing up to the "Masterjam" sessions.

Masterjam is when they started to go with the motions instead of sticking with their own unique sound.

When Rags To Rufus, Rufusized, Rufus FT. CK, Ask Rufus and hell, even Street Player were released,,,they already coined their style.

But since disco was all the rage(and I love it!) I guess it put a pressure on them to release a disco record,,,even though they clearly sound out of place doing it IMO.

I heard that Chaka wanted to do the Rock/Jazz oriented thing, which didn't sit well with the record company nor the Rufus members(who already were experiencing personal clashes).

Call me crazy, but give me their Chaka-less albums Numbers & Party Till You're Broke over Masterjam any day of the week it least they got back to sounding focused in those albums. Quincy thought he was producing Patti Austin when he did Masterjam lol I don't blame Chaka for not showing intrest at all, comparing to most of her stuff, she sounded tame in that album,,,,you DON'T tame a wild child, you let her do her thing.
[Edited 5/27/10 1:41am]

Masterjam is when they started to go with the motions instead of sticking with their own unique sound.

When Rags To Rufus, Rufusized, Rufus FT. CK, Ask Rufus and hell, even Street Player were released,,,they already coined their style.

But since disco was all the rage(and I love it!) I guess it put a pressure on them to release a disco record,,,even though they clearly sound out of place doing it IMO.

I heard that Chaka wanted to do the Rock/Jazz oriented thing, which didn't sit well with the record company nor the Rufus members(who already were experiencing personal clashes).

Call me crazy, but give me their Chaka-less albums Numbers & Party Till You're Broke over Masterjam any day of the week it least they got back to sounding focused in those albums. Quincy thought he was producing Patti Austin when he did Masterjam lol I don't blame Chaka for not showing intrest at all, comparing to most of her stuff, she sounded tame in that album,,,,you DON'T tame a wild child, you let her do her thing.
[Edited 5/27/10 1:41am]

Harlepolis said:

Wow, Numbers? Party Til You're Broke? over Masterjam?, yeah harle u are crazy, ! I don't even consider those Rufus albums, without Chaka in the fold they were just Tony and the boys havin' a jam session.

Yeah thats what I thought too untill I listened to them without my "Chakaholic" mode on seriously, Lalomie Washburn and Paulette McWilliams put their foot down,,,maybe not as firmly as Chaka in her previous albums, but they threw down.

Give it a try....