30 years into the Halifax Jazz Festival’s life, and thankfully we are nowhere close to seeing an end in sight. When the lineup was fully announced, all of the buzz seemed to have centred around the more recent artists who were mentioned: Lauryn Hill, Metric and City & Colour. However it’s Chic, ft. Nile Rodgers, who find themselves with the honour of saying that the week belongs to them.
Littered from top to bottom with hits, Rodgers and co wasted no time in getting the crowd dancing as they burst into the 1977 hit “Everybody Dance”. With vocalists Kimberley Davis and Folami Ankoanda (both incredibly talented with some of the best live vocals I’ve heard in the longest time) doing the majority of the singing, Rodgers was free to entertain, moving from one side of the stage to the other, allowing all in attendance the chance to partake in the musical moments which would follow.
Having next to no knowledge of this act’s musical history, I began speaking with a few random fans within the crowd beforehand. After the discussions had come to an end, I came to the realization that many of the patrons on hand were able to name at least a handful of Chic’s hit songs. “Good Times”, “Le Freak” and “I Want Your Love” were the most popular songs to be named, and after spending the first twenty minutes or so listening to the performance on stage I came to the sudden realization that I too was aware of this group’s footprint on the musical landscape. What I would gradually realize is that Nile Rodgers not only had a hand in helping to shape the career of Chic, but that he also had his own musical imprint spread throughout countless other genres and eras of music.
“I’m Coming Out” (a Diana Ross song and sample for the 1997 hit “Mo Money Mo Problems”), “We Are Family” (a hit for Sister Sledge), “Let’s Dance” (one of the late David Bowie’s biggest hits), “Like A Virgin” (the song which put Madonna on the map), and the monster hit from Daft Punk ft. Pharrell, “Get Lucky”, were all played on Friday night, and were also all penned and/or produced by Nile Rodgers himself.
Like all great acts, it wasn’t just a show to sit and watch the frontman perform (although Rodgers’ guitar work is absolutely beautiful to watch). His backing band is world class and had no trouble at all filling the massive stage on the Jazz Fest grounds with a funk and a groove Halifax had yet to experience.
I walked into the evening knowing that the disco/funk era was one I had never found myself attracted to, nor was it a genre that was spun on my father’s turntable as a child. However, I was told by many not to miss this performance, as it would be a special evening and would more than likely result in dance parties everywhere. Needless to say my sources were bang on, and I was overwhelmed with how scintillating these greats actually are.
