Chaka Khan – The Signature Diva Live
Picture: C
Sound: C+ Extras: C+ Concert: B
Though only often known for I Feel For You and
(particularly by way of the Whitney Houston remake) I’m Every Woman,
Chaka Khan is one of R&B’s greatest vocalists and even survived the
transition into post-modern R&B forms like Rap and Hip Hop, but the fallout
with her once home label of Warner Bros. (one of many between the once-great
label and most of its great talent which has yet to be rectified by the new
regime and owners) was a huge mistake for the company and a loss for the public
at large.
She continues to release great albums and the voice is
still there, but a terrific concert from a Roxy Theater appearance on June 7th
1981 has miraculously surfaced on DVD and has been release by MVD and The
Quantum Leap Group under the apt title Chaka Khan – The Signature Diva Live. The concert, running a way too short 32
minutes, features her in prime form on the following:
1) We Can
Work It Out
2) I Know
You
3) The
Melody Still Lingers On (Night In Tunisia)
4) Any Old
Sunday
5) Whacha
Gonna Do For Me? (poorly mislisted as “What are you going to do for
me?”)
6) I’m
Every Woman
Backed by outstanding supporting singers and a truly
powerful band that includes members Steve Ferrone (drummer, vocalist) and
Hamish Stewart (guitarist, vocalist) of the underappreciated Average White
Band, Chaka shines with power and joy that are matched by incredible musicality
that makes her nothing short of a genius vocalist. The talent around her, in the way they rally and support her, are
most aware of this and the synergy that results is what great music is all
about. Her take on The Beatles’ We
Can Work It Out is way up there with Tina Turner’s covers of Help!
and Come Together, but goes an even more R&B rout ala Aretha
Franklin. That is not easy by a
longshot, but she is that great. Too
bad this could not have been 3 – 5 hours long, but her half-hour is better than
just about all of the many full-length (70 to several hours long) concert DVDs
we have looked at to date.
The shortcoming of the DVD outside of that is the old NTSC
analog taping of the concert, which has some detail troubles and Video Black
fading, particularly briefly in the beginning that is definitely from the
source tape. After that moment, things
clear up as much as possible for the 1.33 x 1 full frame presentation. The Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo also has
limits; mostly just from being taped at the time when two-channel stereo was
considered sufficient, is good if not great.
If ever I wanted a DTS 5.1 mix for a concert, it was this one. Of course, the power of the performances mow
right over any playback limits. Extras
include a two-frame text biography, extensive album discography that includes
many hits sets she happens to be on, a singles discography (both of which
include all her Rufus works), another text section on awards, a stills gallery,
a lyrics quiz for fans, and a separate installment dubbed biography on the main
menu that offers a half-hour look at her career from the television series Cover
Story that offers pieces of some of her 1980s Music Videos. Though you will want more too and more Khan
DVDs need to be issued, this still makes this one of the best R&B DVDs to
date.
- Nicholas Sheffo
