Knight, Khan hit high notes galore at the Bowl

It was obvious from the lineup that Wednesday night’s Jazz at the Bowl concert wouldn’t have much to do with jazz. For all their musical splendors, Gladys Knight and Chaka Khan have reached their exalted levels of popularity in a very different genre.

Still, the program guide noted that Khan would be accompanied by a “jazz orchestra” led by Alexander Mickelthwate, assistant conductor of the L.A. Philharmonic. But that’s not exactly how it turned out.

Knight’s climactic set was the highlight of the evening -- a beautifully packaged, choreographed and delivered collection of her hits. Although Knight is approaching her 60th anniversary as a performer (she began at age 4 and recorded her first album with the Pips in 1960, when she was 16), her voice remains one of pop music’s warmest, most melodious and versatile.

Starting with the very early “Every Beat of My Heart,” she proceeded smoothly through items such as “If I Were Your Woman” and “Midnight Train to Georgia,” added Luther Vandross’ touching “Dance With My Father” and concluded with a standing crowd joining in on “I Heard It Through the Grapevine.” More fun was provided by humorous exchanges with her guest star, older brother and former Pip Merald “Bubba” Knight.

And what about that “jazz orchestra”? It consisted of a big band on one side of Khan’s basic band, a string section on the other side. And, strangely, those players spent most of the set quietly holding their instruments.

For much of the set, Khan’s high-intensity vocals, piercing enough in the higher register to cut through diamonds, focused on her long string of R&B; hits. A pair of exceptions -- “My Funny Valentine” and “Hey, Big Spender” -- added the orchestra. But her vocals, despite revealing Khan’s rarely heard gentle qualities by starting softly, with just a touch of jazz phrasing, soon reverted to her crowd-pleasing, stratospheric high notes.