Chaka Khan on jazz, Billie Holiday, and music as self-expression
‘Music is much deeper form of communication than we give it credit for. I’ve seen and felt miraculous things happen because of music.’
The iconic singer and musician Chaka Khan took a time out from her curation of our 29th Meltdown – which included headline performances from Khan to both open and close the ten-day festival – to reflect on her 50-year career in music.
In this interview she discusses how her lifelong love of jazz – ‘I’ve always loved jazz music, I was raised on it’ – inspired her 2004 album ClassiKhan, and how as a young child she was drawn to both the beauty and suffering of Billie Holiday.
She also talks about the experience of performing with an orchestra’ – ‘we were all doing this wonderful thing together, we were conveying a message in a different language’ – and offers valuable advice to aspiring musicians – ’it’s not about competition, it’s simply about-self expression’. And underlying all this is Khan’s deep affection for experiencing and performing music; ’I’ve seen how music touches people in a way that nothing else does’.
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00:00:10 Chaka on releasing her jazz album, ClassiKhan
00:00:27 Chaka on being raised on jazz music
00:00:48 Chaka's favourite singer, Billie Holiday
00:01:41 Chaka on performing with a live orchestra
00:02:03 Chaka Khan's advice for aspiring musicians
00:02:38 Chaka Khan on children and the next generation
00:03:16 Chaka Khan on music as communication
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