Chaka Khan - Life Is A Dance / Remix Project (1989)

Bouncing between tracks that take great liberties and ones that simply update and stretch the originals, Life Is a Dance (The Remix Project) is a respectful and joyous celebration of Chaka Khan's solo output. The big hits are treated well, with Paul Simpson's softening of the rough edges in "I Feel for You" making it more of a rolling groove, while Marley Marl presents a minimal house take on "This Is My Night." Richard Tee's glistening piano is pumped way up on Dancin' Danny D's mix of "I'm Every Woman," and the lone Rufus track, "Ain't Nobody," gets a slight update by Frankie Knuckles. The album's highlight, "I Know You, I Live You," is extended to nearly eight minutes by Tony Humphries, giving the shimmering disco groove plenty of deserved room. The sleepers are where Life Is a Dance really shines. Hank Shocklee takes the slinky duet with Rick James on "Slow Dancin'" and adds that clunky drum sound that made him famous, while "Clouds" presents one of the final true house mixes from Clivillés & Cole before going pop and pedestrian with C+C Music Factory. Perhaps a sign of the times, none of the remixers get credited on the outside of the disc and a glossary of terms such as "house" and "def" is included. A few of the tracks sounded dated a couple years after the album's release, but overall the collection shows more restraint and good taste than expected.