George Duke & Chaka Khan — North Sea Jazz Festival, Rotterdam, 2009

On Saturday, July 11, 2009, the George Duke Trio featuring Chaka Khan performed at the North Sea Jazz Festival, on the Amazon stage of the Ahoy in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. Drawn from the festival’s archives, this full live concert brings together two legends: keyboardist and producer George Duke (1946-2013) and singer Chaka Khan, longtime collaborators. Backed by Jef Lee Johnson (guitar), Michael Manson (bass), Ronald Bruner Jr. (drums) and Shannon Pearson (backing vocals), they move between jazz, funk and soul with obvious rapport. Chaka Khan’s powerful voice and George Duke’s virtuoso keyboard playing trade lines across a generous set of reworked standards and irresistible grooves. No complete, reliably ordered setlist could be established for this performance. A precious document of 2000s live jazz and of the craftsmanship of the North Sea Jazz Festival, this George Duke and Chaka Khan live concert in Rotterdam in 2009 will delight fans of jazz, funk and soul performed live, capturing two artists whose shared history gives every exchange onstage an easy, lived-in warmth.