Chaka Khan - Lullaby of Birdland (LIVE)

[MissNophi2U]

she can make up the words, fidget, freestyle... she's still a vocal genius. 26 people prefer cubicles & cages.

[livvlivingintokyo]

Ummm...she is sweating, fidgeting with her hair and clothes, she has the lyrics on a music stand right in front of her and she's not even looking at it cuz she's too high to notice them....I love Chaka Khan but cocaine is a terrible drug! Thank goodness she's clean now!

[MsMHishmeh]

love it!!

[AdeleRiwai]

lol forget the words much... shows that it happens to everyone

[jsgivens3]

not her genre.

[babyboi1002]

This chick is high as sh*t......she missed 80% of the words

[MirrorImageOfYou]

Chaka could sang 1,2, buckle my shoe for the lyrics for all I care! It sounds ABSOLUTELY beautiful coming from her sweet, soulful voice... Maybe she put her on artist touch on it (Like Amy Winehouse did w/ October song).. Quit being so dam picky & just enjoy the music!

[sbergman27]

@MirrorImageOfYou While I might prefer Sarah Vaughn's or Ella Fitzgerald's versions, Chaka Khan does a good job with this song. As Lucile Ball discovered with her "Life With Lucy" fiasco, it's hard to do "I Love Lucy" decades after the fact. The original may still be flying high. But when you try to do it again... you face some very tough hurdles.

Thumbs up to Chaka on this one. I'm not a huge fan or anything. But a passerby who stopped to note that this performance was quite good.



[chezruss]

I wonder how many birds nests she s got in her afro? personnally i prefer chris connors version. oh just noticed ella s done a version-sure to be definitive!

[seaonsmusic]

@chezruss Birds nests! LOL... funny

[HERBLANDZ]

my mom used to be a big rufus fan and she went to a concert back in the day 70s the real back in the day and she said chaka was so high but sounding good,whether she got the words right i dont know but she said chaka was above whitneys crack rocket chaka had a drug problem and she did so much drugs before going on stage this 92 and she was still sniffing and smokin drugs so chaka is in birdland

[Rbfitz13]

check out casey abrams lullaby of birdland its great

[maxtheknife]

Chaka is famous for screwing up the lyrics during live performances. She been doing that since the 70's. But, she sounds terrific here. This is from the early 90's when she peaked vocally.

[lydee09]

I love Chaka, but this was not an impressive performance. The band was jumping. I have heard Chake really interpret jazz great. This was not one of those times.  This is a hard song too, hard to do Sarah justice.

[kaferere]

I adore Chaka, she is one the all time greats in jazz, gospel, swing and funk but she is apt to not do her homework. This is a bad performance, she doesn't know the words and she is unsure of the harmonic path which is ruining her usual fluidity of phrase. She is well capable of singing this great piece and blowing us away but this was truly unprofessional and unprepared. She should bear in mind that those guys playing behind her will never be as wealthy or famous yet they did their homework.

[Tanfeliz]

So disappointing, I love me some Chaka Khan.

[ChiisanaNoSekai]

What on Earth happened to her hair?

[rufusterrymcconnell]

I can't believe anyone could have the audacity to destructively criticize Chaka as she transcends just about all genres of vocal performance. Your criticism is very much unwarranted, to say the least.

[susanamoita22]

chaka khan has just majorly gone down in my consideration for her. ruined it. totally. people should either exceed the originals or keep their mouths very well shut.

[tomsoulside]

She got the Funk! But she's not enough focused and deep to sing Jazz or Soul!

[mjjcng8958]

@tomsoulside well you haven't really heard any of her music right? this lady can tear up soul and definetly sing jazz

[tomsoulside]

@mjjcng8958 of course I know Chaka Khan discography and I love her, but that doesn't prevent us to be objective! THIS performance was terrible. Always use your ears, even if you're a die hard fan.

Another exemple of a horrible Chaka performance : "Secret Place" (original song by Karen Clark Sheard). She's amazing for FUNK! but sometimes, she's not enough focused to sing gospel, or soul, or music styles with deep feelings.

[tomsoulside]

M.A.S.S.A.C.R.E.

[jsnell126]

compared to sarah vaughan's version this just sucks.

[mattheww1221]

this bitch always has a problem with remebering lyrics. she does the same thing with herr songs lmao

[MrsDiamondears]

@mattheww1221 SHE possibly has the problem you speak. But SHE is not a "bitch"... How do you refer to your female relatives?

[OdedFriedGaon]

sweeeeeeeet, and the doooooooo oh! love it.

[BazanCristina]

Even though she messed up the lyrics, I think everything else is so good that makes up for it: great band, great voice, very nice overall performance. I no nothing about music, but I enjoyed it a lot.

Now in Portuguese for the Brazilian audience: É verdade que a letra saiu toda embolada, mas acho tudo mais tão bom, que isto é o de menos. Tchau.

[quaxk]

I think she's coked up...

[gutlover33uk]

hey its the 'chicken in a basket roadshow' version

[nellie2581]

I love Chaka Khan

[elvisthecat57]

Ella and Sarah are sing'in, " Amen, Alleluia" from heaven above! because thank God we have a singer in our generation that has the ears and the voice to do what Chaka does. Bassist Stanley Clark Once said, "Chaka hears notes nobody hears and then she sings it like nobody else" That's the magic music we will learn with our lips, when we Kiss! Yes!! Maybe she forgot the words... maybe she didn't...She made it work and didn't miss a beat. Rhythmically her rendition is as hip as it's gonna get.

[MsDeniseblack]

I have to agree with the bone player, Its jazz and no one could ever duplicate ella or george so just accept that she is sing ng a great standard and she was nervous and forgot the words. its a tuff song to remember, as a bandleader appreciate anyone singing tuff ones I never liked her but after seeing this I now am a fan

This is the record copy chart from George shearing and as a bandleader I appreciate it

[StavJazzMan]

I would like to recommended, Head & Shoulders.

[7jazzmiss]

I have to say this is the worst interpretation of this song I have ever heard,,,the lyrics are wrong...but that is not even the most important part....it's a hard swinging song, and that is how it is meant to be sung...not the way she sang it ....but this is my opinion. It wasn't even pleasurable to listen to.

[anamarialeme]

a peruca tava fora de lugar

[maxbone100]

Hi I play the second trombone in this big band in this video Wow is about 30 kg ago!Wow Chaka are the best

[angelialvares]

To all her critics.In jazz you can improvise on the music and on the lyrics too. She doesn't have to sing the song as it is written but has to sing it as she feels it at the moment. All jazz vocalists, including Ella make up new lyrics as they sing their jazz and that's the beauty of listening to them. I think Chaka Khan did a super job and has the right husky voice for jazz.

[AvalanchesOfWealth]

Sorry, Chaka. After listening to Ella's version, this one just does not measure up. Not well done!

[195477]

@AvalanchesOfWealth This does though

watch?v=B8_nKZ3UvfM

[grenadian11]

Not Bad, Like Chris Connor version best but I think Chaka did it justice!

[bigbluemoses]

chaka may have stuffed up the words but she made up for it with her cape, tights and F$#%ED UP CRAZY HAIR!!!! Gotta love this woman....ROOOOOAR you tigress.... ROAR!!!!!

[durgaaa]

I like Chaka's early stuff. Found it amusing here, how she fusses with her big hair. She's just having a bad day and has lost a lot of confidence due to her weight gain, but hey, we all have our bad days and we lucky ones have had our heydays. She made some all time classics in the 60's and 70's and I will always love her for that.

[CheckMate657879]

@durgaaa What are you talking about? Did you listen to this song, at all? Chaka Khan is at the top of her game in this song. She's transcended anything she did with Rufus. Chaka Khan is a superb jazz singer, as great as any, Sarah Vaughn, Billie Holiday, you name one. You're reading your own pre-judgments into the performance. You've threaded in pure nonsense, missing the total picture completely - an excellent jazz performance.

[durgaaa]

@CheckMate657879 You may believe it, but I have seen Chaka do this very song much, much better. This is NOT an excellent performance in my opinion. Of course you are welcome to have your own, so there is no point in arguing.

[enataschas]

She forgot the lyrics but she has so much attitude that it does not matter...

[harmonylover90]

Yep she definately did not know what she was doing! hehehe

[anniefox40]

On top of making an absolute mess of the lyrics, the range is too low for her. Too bad.

[jakeham1]

The arrangement is pretty corny, and it's nothing like her singing on Echoes of an Era, but she's awesome.

[Jottuli]

she has a huge hair :D wow!

[majorminorchords79]

I have read all the comments and I have to say that if I were to set the lyrics aside....this is typical Chaka. Anyone who knows Chaka's style knows she brings her flair to whatever she sings....one of the most amazing this about singers is that there are for the most part all different in their style. To compare Chaka to Ella or even Sarah is unfair because there will never ever be another Ella, Ella was a trail blazer who made it possible for styles like Chaka to even be heard.

[aubreexxx]

suck

[RayPaganJr]

She ruined this song. But it's not like she was anything sensational in the first place.

[saturnaspider]

Miss Khan misses the melody's pretty subtleties but she really screws up the lyrics. Her mistakes are in parentheses - Lullaby of birdland, that's what I always hear when you sigh (Chaka sings: in my mind) and then: Have you ever heard two turtle doves bill and coo when they love (she sings: we're in love). Also: That's the kind of magic music we make with our lips (Chaka's version: that's the magic music that we will learn with our lips) when we kiss. This classic jazz song deserves better.

[cdee12120]

@saturnaspider i love her interpretation...she cuts out some words.. to emphasize the feeling by accentuating certain words in each verse.. i love her version.. she slows it up..puts more of a beat to it...i have listened to many versions hers has a flair all it' s own.. i love her... she does a great rendition of Alfie and All of me also..

[gnr2391]

@saturnaspider

That is your opinion...I think she does a great job. I like it more this version more than a lot of the classic versions.

[MsMHishmeh]

@saturnaspider but isn't it the jazz tradition to change the lyrics and re-work the melody?

[saturnaspider]

@MsMHishmeh It isn't the Jazz tradition to get the words wrong which is obviously what is happening here. I really don't feel she is "interpreting" the lyrics...

[odysseetheater]

no sorry, THIS version is not very good for my taste. and believe me.. she did not change the text, she FORGOT IT !!! sometimes this happened, but the songcould have been much better interpreted.. sorry for all chacka khan fans, i mislikeit.. evenif you would destroy me in the air...

[cginns]

What a sad backup band ,,,,,,,,,,, square, square, square.

You complainers do not understand the nature of jazz or the nature of Chaka.

[ItsAMePaige]

it would be okay if it wasnt for the fact she changed the lyrics to the point that they dont actually make sense, i mean no denying shes a brilliant singer but she shouldnt have touched this song, because sarah vaughn and ella fitzgerald have made this song a jazz/blues treasure, i mean making a mistake alone is bad but with this song the mistake makes it terrible!

[SOTONY01]

If George Shearing could hear what this woman has done with his beautiful composition, he would commit a suicide.

[waldo0708]

it is a very difficult song , not for amateurs

[saturnaspider]

And this performance is amateurish indeed. Chaka should have spent more time learning the melody and lyric of this jazz classic.

[MzSarenaX]

So Chaka changed the lyrics a bit! You get the big picture! You know how Chaka is. She had to make the song hers! Heheh...She can do NO WRONG in my Book. Her version is sassy, sweet playful and magical...like Ms. Chaka herself. This lyric was made for a voice like hers. The best version yet, and she was only playing with the song, as another post knowingly commented. But it's a playful song!

[patrickkumi]

I would be a FOOL to say that Chaka can't sing, but if she's gonna sing this song she needs to SING this song, not play with it. She's throwing lyrics into the song that aren't even supposed to be there!!!!

[cmelmoneyman]

dude we're talkn about jazz...EVER heard of improv....This isnt classical she did a great job

[Gentrone]

Excuse me but what exactly is she singing? This is the first time I heard of Chaka Khan and boy she is seriously killing the lyrics of this song.

[gsco82]

Wonderful singing by Chaka. I'm not very impressed by the alto solo. I think that the back-up band in Sara's version is quite a bit better.

[Frisbieinstein]

I was imprinted with the face of Chaka Khan when Creem magazine had a photo of here in a bathtub full of milk.

Her version is charming but Chris Connor's swings more tasty. About as tasty as you can get.

[valambiguous]

She aced this one!!!

[pigglewiggle132]

interesting choice of lyrics

[gibraltarrr]

lol

[wellvrsd]

Right!

[shereemonique]

Ella did my favorite live version of this song - but I ain't mad at Chaka for this one! ;)

[Groek123]

uuuh man, she is such a wonderful sensitive talent , I love her energy !

[funkyboiblue]

I just love it when Chaka sings Jazz. It along with funk are the dominant factors in her style. Funky Chaka - Jazzy Khan! ! !

Ogni pollice un GENIO! ! !

[Zandi5]

Ella fitzgerald, and sara vaughn covered this song also and they were good but Chaka just adds sultriness and pizazz to it what a great interpreter of song she is .

[funkyboiblue]

I couldn't agree with you more.. =) She's a true artist and Jazz is her favorite element.. A MASTERPIECE indeed! ! !

[paddeyOmalley]

yess!! love it when JAZZY Khan kicks in!!! AWESOME!!!

[TheChakaKhanZone]

The MASTER AT WORK! AWESOME