KE with the Monterey Jazz Festival On Tour

[DamonC]

Thanks for the detailed review/report, vsiderio.

My daughter and I are scheduled to see the show on Thursday night in Durham, NC!

Cheers,

/D

[vsiderio]

I'd love to hear if/how the program differs from the one I saw.

[WindsorDawn]

I'm very excited to be attending the Virginia Beach show this evening!

~Dawn

[mjr]

excellent, please tell us what happens too! thanks!

[DamonC]

DURHAM, NC, 25 Feb 2010 (AP)— Point Guard and team captain, Kurt Elling, scored 24 points and delivered 6 assists Thursday as the Monterey Jazz Allstars played in Durham, NC. While short of Elling's 28 points per game average when he's wearing the familiar KEQ uniform -- it was a still a stellar performance for an on the road game. Guards, Regina Carter and Russell Malone, each contributed greatly to the game winning performance, each walking away with a double dozen of points. One of the game highlights was at the beginning of the second half as Carter and Malone matched each other, making alternating 6 consecutive shots from behind the arc.

The defensive game was led by center, Kenny Barron, with a more than respectable 12 rebounds and half as many blocks. The New Yorker was as stoic as ever, sinking all but one of his 10 foul shots during the contest. Big man, Kiyoshi Kitagawa's endurance was unsurpassed as he clocked in the most minutes of playing, leaving the game for only a brief rest during the middle of the second half. Power forward, Johnathan Blake came in strong during the game end, hit four straight free throws in the final 11 seconds and blocked a 3-point shot with 5 seconds left that could have tied it.

But it was the fine ball handling and passing of Elling and the outside shooting of Malone and Carter, that made the difference. Again with two 3-point baskets that gave the Allstars a lead during the last minute of the play. Kitagawa surely must have iced down both his arms after 2 hours of nearly nonstop action. The entire team shared the MVP award for this Thursday night performance in North Carolina.

[karina]

Whew! Soccer is easier. Thanks for the ball-by-ball description, Damon.
Sounds like it was a great game.
Karina

[godfather]

haven't been on much lately, but read you all every day and find it most enjoyable and "jazz" satisfying. Atlanta show was fabulous. Took one of my jazz freak friends whose never been too hot on male jazz vocalists...he was blown away as he giggled like a teenager as Kurt took us through a post- decade lesson on how its supposed to be done!. I must apologize to Kurt though. When he was introducing You Are Too Beautiful and describing the Coltrane/Hartman project, I couldn't help myself and I stood up and yelled out "you won the Grammy!!!!", which Kurt humbly acknowledged as the crowd applauded. I'm an emotional italian and got caught up in the moment. by the way, almost a sellout, which was great to see. If you have a chance to catch this show do not miss it! one of the best I've been to in a long time. This was at the end of this swing of the tour and they were all playing really great together. All the best to all you KEQ forum contributors...keep it up....you make my day.
godfather

[P+T]

Hey, godfather! Great to hear from you and about the Atlanta show. Thought you'd enjoy this excerpt from John Ross's review for ArtsCriticATL.com, if you haven't seen it already.

[Merridy]

I just returned from the MJF All-Stars in Bellingham, and it was worth the trip and the long, long wait since I bought my tickets last summer. The group started out with Kurt and the others doing Effendi, and ended with the always great Nature Boy. There were some varaitions from Vsisderio's
wonderful account, including the absence of "You Are Too Beautiful" and the addition of Kurt's hip and witty rendition of "Soul Food". Russell Malone soloed on "An Affair to Remember", which surprisingly, to me at least, was the theme from the 1956 tearjerker starring Cary Grant and Deborah Carr. I adored that show but was amazed that the song is still being played. My favorite of the group was definitely Kurt, but I also enjoyed Regina Carter, and absolutely loved "When I Grow Too Old To Dream", which featured Kurt and Regina. The best part of the evening for me was when I finally got a picture of Kurt and myself together. In short, it was a great evening, although I prefer the KEQ, since you get to hear more of Kurt, and I also missed Laurence's exquisite playing.

[vsiderio]

It's always interesting to hear about how they changed the program. I have an old college buddy of mine who's going to the April 22 show in LA. I'll try to get him to post what they play there.

[Rev]

[Solan49]

I think this FORUM is fantastic although it has been very quiet for a while.
Thanks to Merridy writing about Russell Malone playing "An Affair to Remember" i found both the film and the wonderful song.
Now i have ordered the DVD(it seems to be a wonderful old film) and
a cd with Nat King Cole singing the song. THANKS MERRIDY!!!
I must say that thanks to Kurt and Laurence i have found so much new music, even if i have been listening to this kind of music all my life,
and new artists, such as Regina Carter and lately Gretchen Parlato.
Kurt talks about Gretchen on the concert from Philadelphia last november.
I have listened to her and like her and she is coming to the Stockholm
Jazz Festival this summer together with Wayne Shorter and i think i`m going to the concert.
Thanks to Kurt Elling i`m also going to New York for the second time and
two concerts at Lincoln Center in May. It`s so exciting and wonderful
and i hope we`ll meet after the shows for a little chat and taking a
picture. Wish me luck.

Best

Solweig
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Solan49

[karina]

Hi Merridy, good to hear that it was a great evening, and that you now have a nice picture to remember it by.

Hi P+T, how was Olympia? I hope you had a wonderful time too!

[ceej]

can't wait to see Kurt again...

I'm planning to catch the LA show or the one in Costa Mesa. keeping my fingers crossed.

I try to catch him every year now:)
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ceej
--it's the rhythm of living...

[collegebuddy]

Yes, it's College Buddy as referred to by Vsiderio, the best man at my wedding. His friendship has lasted longer than the marriage did. I actually have tickets for Saturday in Orange County. But since he posted that I was going to the concert tonight at UCLA and asked me to report on it I guess I'll have to go to that one too. Life's a bitch when you have such a hard taskmaster. The only problem is that I haven't bought my ticket yet. We'll see what happens tonight since it's only 15 minutes from home. Don't forget KE will be with Ernie Watts at the Hollywood Bowl as part of the Playboy Jazz Festival in June. Hey Siderio, come on out to LA for that one. Bring your dog so Woody doesn't have separation anxiety, leave Michelle home since she has no separation anxiety after 40 years.
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Bill Evans said his goal was to have a trio that made music that "sings" and Kurt JUST "sings, sings, sings." Call in the roller of big cigars I'll be ready having heard KE, BE, Trane, Mose, Monk, and Miles live.