Chaka Khan at the Saratoga Mountain Winery
Chaka Khan w/Ledisi
The Saratoga Mountain Winery
8.21.04
For some of you, if you recognize the name Chaka Khan at all it will be from flashback albums with her one 80s megahit I Feel For You. This is unfortunate, because her career of hits precedes that 1984 single by more than a decade and continues to give her success to the present day as one of the few actual performers who qualifies as that often used, but rarely qualified term, Diva. In a class with others like Aretha Franklin, Sade and Billie Holliday, Chaka is a true treat to listen to live.
Chaka has several big things that are almost immediately noticable; a big mane of curly hair that seems to radiate outwards in a furious follicle storm, a big smile that seems to radiate a sincere joy in her attitude, and the voice - big. Really big. And it radiates wherever it damn well pleases. It is surgically precise yet as powerful as any force of nature. Whitney, Mariah and Christina "Really, I can be deep" Aguilera can go and do all the vocal gymnastics they want, bleating and overemoting like passionless harpies album over album, but Chaka is able to mix a poweful voice with an uncanny understanding of when to go for broke and when to keep it tight, as evidenced on such moments as her cover of My Funny Valentine. Chaka can be suggestive without being sleazy, playful, friendly and leave you with your own big stupid grin by the end of a show.
Chaka started the evening with I Feel For You if for no other reason than to get it out of the way, and it was a damn good starting point. Upbeat, she continued a string of her hits from the early 70s al the way through more recent material, including Tell Me Something Good, Through The Fire and a great interpretation of Fleetwood Mac's Everywhere (which is considerably superior to the original), which in her hands goes from soft-rock mid-tempo harmless fluff, to a warm love song.
Her band, while tight as a unit, was a bit uneven as soloists, particularly the keyboardists, whose sound patches were a bit too sterile by themselves (can't one of you fuckers bring a real Rhodes?), and a bassist who seemed too down in the mix during his own solo. Her backing vocalists however, were a perfect 3 way backline. Complimenting Chaka without ever interfering, the vocal arrangements were clearly well rehearsed for this tour. The performance overall was well mixed, clear, and a soulful, funky affair.
A fun highlight was the duet between Chaka and her opening act, Ledisi, on an extended romp of Marvin Gaye's What's Goin' On. With Ledisi holding her own just barely, the two acted like jittery sisters singing their favorite song together, with a lot of scatting and trading phrases.
About the only real downer was the lack of an encore, and the missing of songs like Sweet Thang and a personal favorite of mine, Ain't Nobody. Her attitude throughout the whole show was playful, interacting and talkin' mess with the audience and the showhands (who at one point gave her an incorrectly colored spotlight at which point she uttered "Now you know yellow does not look good on brown skin..." and sitting on the lap of one rather nervous person sitting in the front row).
Of honorable mention was opening act Ledisi, who is San Francisco's own local diva in training. Having seen her before (once on her own at SF's Cafe Du Nord and once opening for Me'Shell N'degeocello) she definately borrows heavily from the Chaka Khan and Nona Hendryx playbooks, but adds her own firey, almost down-home grit to it, including a bit of a comedic streak that makes for a lot of smiles and a lot of shaking hips. If you are in SF and get the chance to see one of her local shows, I suggest taking the opportunity at least once.
The Saratoga Mountain Winery
8.21.04
For some of you, if you recognize the name Chaka Khan at all it will be from flashback albums with her one 80s megahit I Feel For You. This is unfortunate, because her career of hits precedes that 1984 single by more than a decade and continues to give her success to the present day as one of the few actual performers who qualifies as that often used, but rarely qualified term, Diva. In a class with others like Aretha Franklin, Sade and Billie Holliday, Chaka is a true treat to listen to live.
Chaka has several big things that are almost immediately noticable; a big mane of curly hair that seems to radiate outwards in a furious follicle storm, a big smile that seems to radiate a sincere joy in her attitude, and the voice - big. Really big. And it radiates wherever it damn well pleases. It is surgically precise yet as powerful as any force of nature. Whitney, Mariah and Christina "Really, I can be deep" Aguilera can go and do all the vocal gymnastics they want, bleating and overemoting like passionless harpies album over album, but Chaka is able to mix a poweful voice with an uncanny understanding of when to go for broke and when to keep it tight, as evidenced on such moments as her cover of My Funny Valentine. Chaka can be suggestive without being sleazy, playful, friendly and leave you with your own big stupid grin by the end of a show.
Chaka started the evening with I Feel For You if for no other reason than to get it out of the way, and it was a damn good starting point. Upbeat, she continued a string of her hits from the early 70s al the way through more recent material, including Tell Me Something Good, Through The Fire and a great interpretation of Fleetwood Mac's Everywhere (which is considerably superior to the original), which in her hands goes from soft-rock mid-tempo harmless fluff, to a warm love song.
Her band, while tight as a unit, was a bit uneven as soloists, particularly the keyboardists, whose sound patches were a bit too sterile by themselves (can't one of you fuckers bring a real Rhodes?), and a bassist who seemed too down in the mix during his own solo. Her backing vocalists however, were a perfect 3 way backline. Complimenting Chaka without ever interfering, the vocal arrangements were clearly well rehearsed for this tour. The performance overall was well mixed, clear, and a soulful, funky affair.
A fun highlight was the duet between Chaka and her opening act, Ledisi, on an extended romp of Marvin Gaye's What's Goin' On. With Ledisi holding her own just barely, the two acted like jittery sisters singing their favorite song together, with a lot of scatting and trading phrases.
About the only real downer was the lack of an encore, and the missing of songs like Sweet Thang and a personal favorite of mine, Ain't Nobody. Her attitude throughout the whole show was playful, interacting and talkin' mess with the audience and the showhands (who at one point gave her an incorrectly colored spotlight at which point she uttered "Now you know yellow does not look good on brown skin..." and sitting on the lap of one rather nervous person sitting in the front row).
Of honorable mention was opening act Ledisi, who is San Francisco's own local diva in training. Having seen her before (once on her own at SF's Cafe Du Nord and once opening for Me'Shell N'degeocello) she definately borrows heavily from the Chaka Khan and Nona Hendryx playbooks, but adds her own firey, almost down-home grit to it, including a bit of a comedic streak that makes for a lot of smiles and a lot of shaking hips. If you are in SF and get the chance to see one of her local shows, I suggest taking the opportunity at least once.
posted by theloniusfunk at 10:52 PM
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