Blog
Jan 23, 2020
Psst! A Peek at ‘Secrets Are the Best Stories,’ Kurt Elling’s New Album with Danilo Pérez
"There's a mystery," Kurt Elling sings softly "An enigma" Then, gathering momentum: "There's a memory oh so slight" His words come near the opening of "A Certain Continuum," the first single from Secrets Are The Best Stories, which...
Jan 15, 2020
Review: Kurt Elling at Birdland Jazz Club, January 9, 2020
Kurt Elling: a name synonymous with jazz He remains as much a luminary of the art form this year as last when I saw him pick up the mic on the same stage His CDs from decades past are the sounds that should be filling lounges worth their...
Oct 17, 2019
Symphony Center Tribute to Apollo 11 Was Teleporting
Usually, when I go to a concert, nothing can distract from the delight of live music The Melbourne Symphony Orchestra's multi-media performance on October 14 at Symphony Center — titled "The Galaxy's Greatest Hits" as a tribute to the 50th...
Oct 17, 2019
Kurt Elling, Grammy-winning vocal great, eager to swing and lift spirits
Grammy Award-winning singer Kurt Elling is ready to take a break from the constant turmoil enveloping our polarized nation — and he's confident music fans are ready to do the same, if only for a night Accordingly, his Saturday night "A...
Oct 07, 2019
Jazz star Kurt Elling is still finding new ways of doing things
Duke Ellington had a saying: "the material is the material" It's a philosophy acclaimed jazz vocalist Kurt Elling has taken to heart through his career When the lights go down and curtain sweeps back, it really is all about the...
Sep 25, 2019
ALL THAT JAZZ: On eve of a Knoxville show, vocalist Kurt Elling reflects on a life well lived
Grammy-winning jazz vocalist Kurt Elling's career trajectory took a hard left turn one night at Chicago's fabled New Apartment Lounge Technically, it changed the next morning, when he showed up to a philosophy of religion class at the...
Jul 09, 2019
Jazz Concert Review: The Montreal Jazz Festival Turns 40, Part Two
At Montreal, singer Kurt Elling is a superstar And, in my world, so is his accompanist, Panama-born pianist Danilo Perez When Elling walked on stage he sat for a while and then sang a single syllable It sounded as if he were testing the...
Jun 01, 2019
Review: Jazz stars in top form on Live in New York
American singer Kurt Elling doesn’t listen to his own albums, so he may not be aware of how voluble he is in this impressive performance at New York’s Birdland jazz club His whimsical patter, laced with irony, however, is instructive Live...
May 14, 2019
Review: James Morrison & Kurt Elling live
Less than a week after performing on the very same stage for International Jazz Day's All Star Global Concert, two of the world's most acclaimed jazz stars, Kurt Elling and James Morrison, stretched out on some classic jazz tunes together at a...
May 12, 2019
Kurt Elling/James Morrison review: A portrait of the singer as a middle-aged man
It's been fascinating to follow Some 22 years ago Kurt Elling burst on to the international jazz scene as an already extraordinarily distinctive singer and improviser Initially he was too eager to shower us with all the options at his disposal:...
May 07, 2019
Tireless pair make jazz brilliance look easy
Last week, James Morrison and Kurt Elling were on stage at Hamer Hall as part of an epic All-Star Global Concert to celebrate International Jazz Day Morrison co-directed the concert and helped co-ordinate the nationwide program of events that...
May 01, 2019
Herbie Hancock Aims Jazz Day All-Star Concert Towards A World In ‘Turmoil’
Herbie Hancock took a moment during the International Jazz Day All-Star Global Concert to address some fraught geopolitical realities Not that Hancock, in his dual capacity as UNESCO goodwill ambassador and chairman of the Herbie Hancock...