Chaka

“I’m Every Woman” gives Chaka Khan’s solo debut an opening that needs little introduction. The record arrived in 1978, putting her voice at the centre of arrangements that leave plenty of room for its changes in weight and colour.

The single can easily dominate a memory of the album. A full play lets the surrounding songs restore some proportion: the voice is the constant, while the pace and setting move around it. The attraction is hearing how much expression Khan can put into the shape of a phrase.