Like
Dee Dee Bridgewater,
Marlena Shaw started out as a jazz singer but made a long detour into R&B before returning to her straightahead jazz roots.
Take a Bite was among the albums that
Shaw recorded during her R&B period, and this 1979 LP is her most disco-friendly release. 1979, of course, was the perfect time for her to be disco-friendly -- that was the year that gave us classics like
Gloria Gaynor's "I Will Survive,"
Donna Summer's "Bad Girls" and
Chic's "Good Times." Many of the soul and disco enthusiasts who bought this record didn't associate
Shaw with
Count Basie, but the jazz world did -- and not surprisingly, myopic jazz snobs believed that
Shaw had committed heresy, treason and blasphemy by embracing disco. Some of them probably thought that an exorcism was in order. But truth be told,
Take a Bite is nothing for the former
Basie vocalist to be ashamed of. This LP shouldn't be judged by jazz standards because it doesn't pretend to be jazz; it is, however, an enjoyable disco/soul outing.
Shaw takes dead aim at the dance floor with "Suite Seventeen," an extended disco medley that takes up all of Side 1. "It Was a Very Good Year" is the medley's main song, although "Suite Seventeen" also includes everything from
Diana Ross' "Touch Me in the Morning" to
Sam & Dave's "I Thank You"." A gem that was defined by
Frank Sinatra, "It Was a Very Good Year" started out as a traditional pop ballad but works surprisingly well as uptempo disco. Side 2, meanwhile, makes some dance-floor moves but also contains a gospel-drenched soul ballad titled "I'll Be Your Friend."
Take a Bite isn't among
Shaw's essential albums, but it's a decent record that fans of late '70s disco will appreciate.