To put it mildly,  this long awaited digitally re-mastered reissue of Taana Gardner’s self-titled 1979 debut album for West End Records is a masterpiece. Masterpiece isn’t a word that I use lightly here since the set is a sort of disco/dance music soulful convergence with the then emerging and innovative  re-mixing skills of the now-mythic Paradise Garage DJ Larry Levan, producer Kenton Nix and above all,  the heavenly vocals of Taana Gardner, certainly one of the most underrated yet brilliant vocalists of the past thirty years.

I still have heated arguments with friends and peers about the artistic merit of disco. “It’s superficial” and it “lacks soul” are principal and  admittedly,  valid criticisms since  many music fans still remember the disposable camp of the Village People and misanthropic cash-ins like Rod Stewart’s “Da Ya Think I’m Sexy” as reference points.  Yet disco was soulful, had heart, was indeed  imaginative and those looking for evidence should venture no further than Taana Gardner.

Those  lucky enough to own this album in its’ original double album incarnation protect it and cherish it as a prized collector’s item. It’s not hard to see why,  since it features some of the best work from the then emerging genius of Larry Levan. The two best known songs  here are “When You Touch Me” and “Work That Body”. The former  starts out as a  dreamy, celestial down tempo jam before exploding into a pure rush of sensual dance-floor euphoria that features steamy vocals from Gardner that would make Donna Summer blush while the latter is a sumptuous and hypnotic  slice of funk that proves dance music was and is as inventive and pertinent as any musical genre of the day could be.

This is also a cohesive and accomplished soul album. The slow jam “We Got To Work It Out” begs  to be resurrected by an ambitious quiet storm programmer and testifies to what a truly versatile singer Taana Gardner is. “Just Be A Friend”  is a gorgeous call to unity  and acceptance that embodies the ethos and principles that disco espoused in the first place, with a foreshadowing of the house music movement only a few years away.

Many already know that Gardner, Nix and Levan would scale new heights two years after the release of  Taana Gardner with the indescribably influential “Heartbeat”.  Yet this  is the release that set the stage for that triumph.  Taana Gardner is essential for any self-respecting fan of disco, dance or soul music.

Rating: 10/10

Matt Bauer for Soulinterviews.com
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Download the album on Amazon.com
Taana Gardner at Discogs