Blog
Feb 17, 2015
Kurt Elling digs into Sinatra legacy for SFJAZZ shows
Jazz sure needed Kurt Elling when he eased onto the scene in the 1990s Male jazz singing had been in a rut ever since the demise of the swing era Elling, who performs this weekend at SFJAZZ Center, shook off the cobwebs with a brashly original...
Feb 15, 2015
Kurt Elling’s ‘Passion World’ at The Kennedy Center’s Terrace Theater
On the most romantic night of the year, Grammy Award- winning jazz vocalist, Kurt Elling's Passion World concert at The Kennedy Center's Terrace Theater was a warm toddy to take the chill off the howling winds and snowy dusting over...
Feb 11, 2015
Kurt Elling talks tackling Frank Sinatra: Portland Jazz Festival 2015
There'll never be another Frank Sinatra But we do have Kurt Elling The jazz singer will take on Ol' Blue Eyes' catalog at the Portland Jazz Festival on Friday, Feb 20 with the Art Abrams Swing Machine Big Band, in a celebration...
Nov 20, 2014
Review: Kurt Elling channels Sinatra, with a twist
With a bit of retro showmanship, stylish stage patter, a Sinatra tonal quality and a superb backing ensemble that combined members of his own band with local talent, singer Kurt Elling gave the Lied Center for Performing Arts the feel of an...
Nov 19, 2014
Kurt Elling: From Bach to Blue Note
"I think of jazz as being homage through innovation Don't quote that as a definition, but it comes pretty close You don't show respect to Frank Sinatra and his great example by trying to sound exactly like him You show it by sounding...
Nov 17, 2014
EFG London Jazz Festival opens with a wild weekend
The EFG London Jazz Festival may have celebrated its 21st birthday last year, but as if to prove it has truly come of age – and lost none of its spark – the opening weekend of the 22nd edition positively swaggered and swung with...
Nov 15, 2014
Jazz Voice, review: ‘a recipe for bliss’
A parade of wonderful jazz singers, backed by a luxuriantly big orchestra, singing two dozen or so of the greatest popular songs ever written It's a sure-fire recipe for bliss, repeated each year for the opening night of the EFG London...
Nov 15, 2014
Review: Jazz Voice – London Jazz Festival
This gala showcase works like a vocal beauty parade It's a big-budget affair on a very big stage with a very big screen that kicks off the London Jazz Festival every year, always master-minded by the indefatigable Guy Barker It's...
Nov 15, 2014
Jazz Voice: Paean to the art of the song gets EFG London Jazz Festival off to coruscating start
Is it just me, or do Guy Barker's orchestral charts for Jazz Voice get more refined, more nuanced, more richly detailed every year Effectively becoming earworm central last night, the Barbican resounded with tintinnabulating glockenspiels,...
Nov 13, 2014
Kurt Elling to Sing Sinatra at Lied Center
Before Kurt Elling became a successful jazz vocalist, he was a mover and a shaker -- literally In the early 1990s, in his hometown of Chicago, he worked as a mover and a bartender to make ends meet "I did all kinds of stuff to keep it going,"...
Nov 11, 2014
Kurt Elling keeps it moving and reveals new album details
Kurt Elling revealed details of his next album due in early 2015 called Passion World Speaking to Nigel Williams at Jazz FM he described it as, "a collection of compositions I've collected from around the world from all these tours"...
Oct 12, 2014
Kurt Elling’s Passion World at Jazz at the Kimmel
Kurt Elling has repeatedly proved his mettle as a vocalist, accumulating so many Downbeat awards and Grammy nominations that it seems superfluous to once again critique any of his performances One can only say, "Ditto, he's done it again"...