Chic
Risqué

The great fortune, but also the great misfortune, of Chic is to have achieved extraordinary global success at the end of the '70s, during the triumph of Disco Music, and to have been associated in the charts and in the imagination, even by critics, with disco music performers of certainly lesser stature. This is unfair, because, as Nile Rodgers has always claimed, Chic is an R&B Band with a solid Jazz background specialized in Dance.

Chic essentially consists of Nile Rodgers and Bernard Edwards, extraordinary authors and arrangers, but also great instrumentalists, the former a guitarist with an unmistakable groove, the latter a bassist of great innovative talent. A special mention goes to the drummer Tony Thompson, of rare quality and power. To understand the rhythmic skills of Our heroes, I invite you to listen to the track "I'm Coming Out" from the album "Diana", by Diana Ross, produced and arranged by Chic in 1980. The opening is simply devastating, starting with Rodgers' rhythmic Fender, then in come Thompson's drums, Edwards' bass, and the horns, the effect: an unbelievable groove.

1977 is the year of Chic's explosion, with the single "Dance, Dance, Dance", which outlines their sound and their original rhythmic line. Until then, bass frequencies below 60 hertz were removed during mastering. Rodgers and Edwards decided to keep them, which enhanced their bass sound in an unprecedented way. Alongside this, and the talents of the already mentioned musicians, the frequent use of strings, and the clever use of choirs, especially female voices, arranged like real horn sections should be noted. The mass success, at least in terms of record sales, waned in the '80s, following the end of the Disco Music phenomenon. A pity, because Our heroes, even during those years, produced records of great quality. I would mention for all "Tongue In Chic".

Perhaps their best album remains Risqué from 1979. All seven tracks included are of excellent quality, the arrangements sumptuous and refined, as always, perfect voices, unheard-of rhythms and sophisticated Jazz harmonies blend to create tracks of absolute originality, with never predictable results. The ease of listening should not be misleading, the compelling effect, which makes even the laziest want to dance, should not overshadow the pleasure that can also be derived from simply listening to these tracks. I recommend listening to the album all the way through; there are pauses with slower pieces, like the enjoyable "A Warm Summer Night", but the engaging effect and quality remain consistently high across all tracks. Thus, it seems little useful to distinguish the individual pieces. I only mention the famous "Good Times" to recall its famous bass line, probably the most cited (and copied) in Pop history. And the overwhelming "My Forbidden Lovers" and "My Feet Keep Dancing", which contains a fun Tip Tap effect. In years when lovers of "Black Music" are recording alarming regressive phenomena, listening to the "old" Chic is a blessing for the ears and the heart. Do not simply call it Dance Music; we are in the presence of classy R&B, that performs the miracle, that is of the greats, of blending easy listening with qualitative rigor.

With the premature passing of Edwards (followed also by Thompson), the Chic brand is carried forward by Rodgers alone and is characterized by extraordinary live performances around the world, with constant extraordinary success. In the live dimension, Chic does not lose that cleanliness, elegance, and precision of sound, also thanks to the value of the musicians and vocalists (I only mention the outstanding Sylver Logan Sharp, for decades the group's lead voice) that Rodgers manages to surround himself with. It is precisely in the live dimension that Chic's value more easily emerges, perhaps because it helps many to forget the alleged "original sin" of their identification as a disco group. An easily accessible recommendation, to appreciate this dimension, is the album "Live At The Budokan", recorded during a concert in Japan, in 1996, a few days before Edwards' sudden death from pulmonary complications, which features a line-up of great musicians, I only mention Slash on guitar and Steve Winwood on vocals and keyboards.