She is, first and foremost, a poet. She is secondly, an amazing speaker. The transition to music with her spoken word poetry was an interesting if not unusual blend. To this point, many people would consider rap to be the natural blend of these mediums. But Chavez took it to a new plateau. There's none of the rush, raw vitality of rap on this disc. Instead, there's a monotone hushed voice expressing mature and complex sentiments. The effect is hypnotic, mesmerizing and beautiful.
Prince's ability to write music and engineer sound was an ideal blend for Chavez's style. The collaboration is one of the most complete and satisfying on the label.
The opening track, 'Heaven Must Be Near' is incredible. It doesn't sound like a created piece of music as much as it sounds like a piece of music existing eternally in nature. It simply found its way to this disc to appear. The Clare Fisher Orchestra provide tantalizing strings and Prince's signature is all over the music. This is the ultimate track and the ideal opener for the album. It's followed by 'Hippy Blood'. Although this song doesn't have any Prince input, it's still a solid effort. Michael Koppelman; who was working as a recording engineer at Paisley Park, gets credit for providing the music to this number. With its opening sitar setting the tone, this song moves into a more structured song style and showcases Chavez singing for the first time on the disc. This song was also released as a single and many remixes are floating around including one by Prince. 'Candle Dance' is the next number and it's also co-written and produced by Michael Koppelman. Although this song is much more reserved and subdued than the previous two tracks, it's still moody and you can hear a lot of emotion playing through the vocal delivery from Ingrid.
'Elephant Box' is the second single and second Prince composition to appear on the disc. There's a scary circus organ playing followed by a soundbite taken directly from the bridge of the starship Enterprise. And then the beat kicks in. Yikes, you feel that? That was your butt telling you to get up and move around. That's right, while your brain is wrapping around the lyrics you're hearing the music forces you to groove right where you're standing. "I'm living in the days of making dreams come true - so can you"....
'Slappy Dappy' is the next offering. This track is also a Prince comp, but it doesn't quite hold up to the songs we've heard thus far. The song itself is complex and interesting. Some people would consider it a song about co-dependency. I'm not sure I see it that way. But it does border on it. Not Prince's finest effort musically, but still interesting and enjoyable. 'Little Mama'... It seems like every female artist during this time period was including songs about babies and being a mother. It was a topic that was overplayed and often boring. There was another Paisley Parker who did a similar song and I'll discuss it at some other time. Michael Koppelman gets credit for this one. I'm starting to pick up on some of this tells. He uses metallic sounding bells as a favorite sound.
Next up is one of two songs that are more like soundscapes than actual songs. 'Jadestone' is the complete aural collaboration between these two visionaries. Prince's stunning musical track accentuates the poetry recited by Ingrid. Stunning example of what can be accomplished when music meets the spoken word. Michael Koppelman shines again on the next two songs. 'Wintersong' is another beautiful composition lyrically and subdued musically. A lovely combination of talent. The next number is 'Spiritual Storm' which is nothing more than a musical segue between tracks. It's the sole composition of Koppelman and I'm not sure why it's on this album considering it has no input from Chavez. At least that I can ascertain. It's followed by 'Sad Puppet Dance' which seems to flow directly out of it yet hit you with a solid beat. Levi Seacer Jr., is the co-writer of this track and his talents are well known and well regarded among Prince fans. He delivers a solid track with Ingrid once again performing sung vocal.
The final track is another poem with Prince providing musical background soundscapes. Included are birdsong and the laughing bark of hyenas. Very strange and yet oddly trance-like.
Ultimately, the collaboration between Prince, the various people surrounding him and Chavez delivered some promising fruit. Material many Paisley followers wanted more of. Ingrid went on to deliver some amazing music. But it all started right here. And the groundwork developed by Prince and his associates have shaped the sound and style of Chavez to this very day. But at the same time, it's unique, different and appealing.
My final words: THIS IS WHY PAISLEY PARK WAS A REMARKABLE LABEL! A FRESH OVERLOOKED SOUND THAT SURVIVES THE TEST OF TIME AND SOUNDS VITAL EVEN TODAY!
INGRID CHAVEZ - MAY 19, 1992
01. Heaven Must Be Near
02. Hippy Blood
03. Candle Dance
04. Elephant Box
05. Slappy Dappy
06. Little Mama
07. Jadestone
08. Wintersong
09. Spiritual Storm
10. Sad Puppet Dance
11. Whispering Dandelions
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