Nile Rodgers, Chaka Khan bring funk to Jazz Festival

“The time has come to take you to a place of maximum funkosity,” Nile Rodgers told the crowd in Melbourne.

Over six hours at the Sidney Myer Music Bowl on Saturday, Nile Rodgers and Chic, Kaiit, and finally Chaka Khan certainly did that.

In a salmon coloured suit, white beret and sunglasses, Rodgers immediately had the crowd at the Melbourne International Jazz Festival freaking out with his opener Le Freak – the biggest selling single in the history of Atlantic Records.

Nile Rodgers brought the house down at the Sidney Myer Music Bowl.

For anyone worried this was peaking too early, there was much more where that came from, with Chic grooving their way through their ’70s hits including Everybody Dance and I Want Your Love.

Of course, there were the songs Rodgers wrote with Chic, and then there were the songs the 71-year-old wrote and/or produced for just about everyone else across half a century of pop music.

Sister Sledge’s We are Family had the crowd dancing as did Diana Ross’ hits including Upside Down.

“That was awesome, he’s amazing, I didn’t know he produced all those songs,” said one fan.

As the sun set the hits kept coming, from David Bowie’s Modern Love and Let’s Dance to Madonna’s Material Girl and Like a Virgin to Beyonce’s Cuff It and Daft Punk’s Get Lucky.

In the front row one fan was dancing in a mirror ball helmet – was she channelling the funk through her headgear, Rodgers wondered.

“All I did was point to her and I could feel the vibe!” he said.

She turned out to be Alice Masters from Kurunjang, who said her mirrored helmet was not a financially responsible purchase although it could be worn to deter magpies as well as at music gigs.

“Nile Rodgers is the GOAT of disco and pop music, but people don’t necessarily know him… the man is a legend,” Masters said.

Rodgers’ hit Le Freak is the biggest selling single in the history of Atlantic Records.

Another mirror ball – above the stage this time – lit up for final act of the night from 10-time Grammy winner Chaka Khan.

It’s been almost a decade since the pioneer of funk, jazz, disco and soul last played in Australia, in Sydney.

“I love Sydney, I think this [Melbourne] is my favourite city though… I’m telling the truth!” she told the crowd.

In sheer sleeves and black fringed pants, Khan launched into This is My Night and then Tell Me Something Good followed by a medley of her hits from the 1980s including What Cha’ Gonna Do For Me and Sweet Thing.

The singer left the stage several times during the set but this gave her eight-piece band a chance to shine, with an extraordinary duet from the band’s two drummers.

“I’m 50 years in show business right now,” Khan told the crowd. “Which is crazy because I’m only 45.”

The audience knew every word of I’m Every Woman with Khan’s backing trio showing off their incredible vocal chops before a deafening roar greeted the opening chords for the closing number, Ain’t Nobody.

For one night it seemed two artists behind a large chunk of popular music had somehow converged on Melbourne while down the road, someone called Paul McCartney was playing a concert too.

– LIZ HOBDAY/ AAP