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Taken from Birmingham Mail (July 10, 2017)
Review: Soul legend Chaka Khan closes the Moseley Jazz, Funk & Soul Festival and says ‘I used to live here!’
Grammy-award winning singer Chaka Khan says she used to live in Birmingham
by Graham Young, Enda Mullen
Chaka Khan says ‘Hello Birmingham!’ (Image: Graham Young) |
Believe it or not, soul legend Chaka Khan once lived in Birmingham!
Strange as it might seem, that was the revelation when ‘Chaka’ took to the stage to close the Mostly Jazz, Funk & Soul Festival in Moseley Park on Sunday night.
And she said it was ‘great’.
There might have been a few sound teething problems at the start of her set, which clearly troubled the singer, but she soon got into her stride and seemed to love her closing night headliner role at this festival which has emerged as one of the best events in Birmingham’s musical calendar.
Once she got going Chaka told the crowd she once lived in Birmingham, spent a year there – and loved it.
And she revelled in being back too, with a slick and tight band that helped to showcase her vocal dexterity and range to the absolute full.
Sometimes singers who used to specialise in hitting the high notes struggle in later years.
But Chaka seemed to revel in demonstrating her voice, which doesn’t seem to have diminished at all over the years.
Those unfamiliar with the singer might not have recognised a lot of the material but there was plenty in there to keep people entertained.
Not surprisingly the big hits came in a flurry towards the end – with I Feel For You, I’m Every Woman and Ain’t Nobody the climax of the show.
Earlier in the day Taupe proved an unlikely festival hit, their jazzy synth instrumental set wowing the crowd.
They were followed by the excellent Three Step Manoeuvre, a sharp Hammond organ driven outfit reminiscent of the James Taylor Quartet at their best.
Crazy P might not have become a household name but their take on house music as played by a ‘live’ band really takes some beating and their set is one that stood out in a great weekend attended by more than 10,000 people.
Review: Enda Mullen
Big smiles smooth away early sound issues
Chaka Khan came on stage at Moseley Park all smiles, writes Graham Young.
But, within 20 seconds, the fully seasoned pro just knew that all wasn’t well on the kind of night when you can’t really do a full sound check until you are actually on stage going for it.
One minute she was trying to look after the audience, the next she was glancing to the side with a kind of coded nod and wink that the sound was a problem.
The super trouper carried on and still made the best she could of the opening song.
Then she decided to come clean to the audience.
“I can’t hear myself and I don’t think you can, either,” she said.
“We’re going to try again on the second song and if it’s not right after that, I want you all to do this,” she added, pointing her thumb down Roman emperor style.
By the end of the second song, the Chicago-born star was feeling smiles better and really getting into her stride.
She soon turned the balmy lakeside setting in to a non-stop soul train through a career which spans five decades.
After the remarkably energetic St Paul & The Broken Bones the night before, it felt like the two headline acts should have been the other way round, with perhaps Chaka playing on Saturday night and St Paul on the Sunday.
Chaka did a couple of quieter numbers in mid-set.
At that point, the sound of chatter halfway back in the park was louder than she was.
It seemed as if the night might be drifting away from the lyrics of her dynamic hit, I hit I Feel For You – ‘Let me rock you, Chaka Khan, let me rock you, that’s all I wanna do’.
But she soon picked up the pace again.
And it was still remarkable to see one of the all-time greats – a ten-time Grammy award winner no less – leading her own ball in a Birmingham park in front of a crowd of more than 3,000.
Hinting at her darker days, 64-year-old Chaka said now was the time to celebrate her 2007 song Super Life.
“I wasn’t ready for it then, but I am now,” she said, introducing a song with the lyrics ‘I’m gonna live a super life For the rest of my life’.
On a weekend of three murders in Birmingham, the opening lines were remarkably heartfelt by chance: ‘A mama’s cryin’ / ‘Cause another young man has gone and died / He’s not some statistic / He’s another awesome destiny denied’.
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