Since he arrived in Singapore, jazz singer extraordinaire Kurt Elling has teamed up with guitarist Lee Ritenour, held a vocal workshop and master class, and had an informative chat at the Singapore Art Café. But all of that really was just a build-up to last night’s intimate concert where his sole concern was to simply sing his heart out to his devoted audience.

Kurt, armed with nothing but his gorgeous voice, cerebral, expressive poetry and the support of his stellar band, gave his all, crooning such numbers as the smooth title track off his latest album Night Moves and the oh-so funky Late Night Willie.

Now, if he had simply stuck to such clear-cut crowd-pleasers for the rest of the evening, that would’ve been more than enough to make this night a memorable one. But, instead, the man decided to challenge his audience a bit and give them something a little different.

Whether it was by melding Theodore Roethke’s poem The Waking together with beautiful riffs composed his bassist Rob Amster, or by laying his own heartfelt lyrics over a previously improvised solo by the legendary saxophonist Dexter Gordon, no one can deny that Kurt always kept the show personal, thought-provoking and fresh.

And that’s just one of the reasons why his audience loved it. Because that’s what Kurt is about: the inspiringly unpredictable.

Sure, there wasn’t a spaceship on stage this time, but there was Sir Nose, the infamous Diaper Man, and a motley crew of other colourful characters. And the minute the Diaper Man - Garry Shider, vocalist, rhythm guitarist, all-round MC and longtime right-hand man of the King of Interplanetary Funk George Clinton himself - sauntered up and stripped down to grey dreads, a huge gut and giant diaper (an image that has been burned into my memory forever), the audience knew what it wanted…“We want the funk! We want the funk!”…

With that the band tore into Funkentelechy with buttery vocals from the super-fly Kendra Foster, P-Funk’s lead vocalist and George’s granddaughter, and searing sax from Greg Thomas. About 20 minutes into the crew delivering some fantastic deep funk with Diaper Man at the helm, a giant ewok-like figure in an orange hoodie moseyed onstage, and the audience went into overdrive.

Like a zany circus ringmaster, George and his multi-coloured hair extensions presided over what was more of a party than a show, vocalising as he egged his mob on to perform their own special feats. And perform they did, for as always it was a disciplined, passionate musicianship that underlay the free “n” loose structure of a P-Funk concert. Though this was a smaller ensemble that the usual P-Funk lineup, the members’ mastery of multiple roles ensured a dense sound and mad funky humour.

One-man horn section – Greg Thomas – in particular, played the keyboards and sang-scatted like the best of them in addition to delivering blistering sax blowouts that drove the audience wild. Sir Nose (another of George’s progeny?) spit his rhymes then performed, all rippling abs, amazing contortions on platforms.

And through two-and-a-half hours of familiar and re-interpreted hits - such as the infectious We Want the Funk, Up for the Downstroke, ol’ skool tribute to James Brown, the sizzling-hot Bounce 2 This featuring a laidback groove and the delectable Kendra on vocals, 70s gem
One Nation Under A Groove which began unrecognisably as a slow jam with Kendra before sliding into the electric funk anthem we know and love, and Atomic Dog, possibly one of the most sampled songs on Earth - it was loud, it was tight, it was funky, and there was genuine joy on everyone’s faces.

Yes, it was weird seeing a 60-something year-old with a big gut wearing nothing but a diaper and huge smile and playing fantastic guitar, but wow, was it fun. Truly, there “Ain't No Party Like a P-Funk Party”!