Blog
Oct 27, 2012
1619 Broadway: Giving familiar tunes fresh lives
Only Kurt Elling could succeed with a musical tribute to a building Of course, the building in question is the Brill Building, the home to songwriters from Sammy Cahn to Paul Simon, so he does have great material for "1619 Broadway: The Brill...
Oct 25, 2012
Kurt Elling — Up on the Roof
Question: what do 'Jailhouse Rock', 'Walk On By' and 'You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'' have in common Answer: they're the tip of a vast iceberg of hits that emanated from midtown...
Oct 24, 2012
1619 Broadway: Less about breadth than depth
Manhattan's most famous music address remains best known for the brief period during the late 1950s and early '60s when young songwriters like Carole King, Gerry Goffin, Jerry Leiber, Mike Stoller, Barry Mann and Burt Bacharach were...
Oct 23, 2012
Kurt Elling: Jazz Wunderkind
How do you become a jazz wunderkind at 44 when you didn't really even discover jazz until you were 22 Ask jazz vocal virtuoso and Grammy-Award winner, Kurt Elling How did he manage that He would probably say he has no idea He simply...
Oct 22, 2012
1619 Broadway: Kurt Elling does terrific album tribute
Kurt Elling is the closest jazz will ever get to having its own saint The singer's soothing, devotional timbre of his voice's lower register can rise to great heights of exaltation, which we hear in his version of Paul Simon's...
Oct 21, 2012
“Jazz Day” at the Clearwater Jazz Holiday: Kurt Elling
Top-shelf jazz was highlighted Saturday night at the Clearwater Jazz Holiday, a festival that dates back 33 years As always seems the case, festivalgoers were treated to what felt like the first blast of fall: A sunny day at Coachman Park was...
Oct 20, 2012
Kurt Elling at City Winery Chicago, October 21-22
At this point in his stellar career, Kurt Elling probably doesn't need much of an introduction – especially not to jazz fans, who regularly pack his concerts and boost him to the top of readers' polls; and particularly not to...
Oct 18, 2012
Interview: Kurt Elling visits his hometown to sing from a new Brill Building tribute
"Man, I miss that Green Mill gig," Kurt Elling declares during a call from New York "I wish there were a way to fly back and still play that every week" The jazz vocalist, who left his native Chicago more than four years ago, reminisces from...
Oct 18, 2012
Preview: Kurt Elling at City Winery Chicago October 21
There is arguably no other single location in the history of American popular music that resonates more in history than the Brill Building in New York City, where composers like Carole King, Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller, Neil Diamond, Burt...
Oct 17, 2012
Kurt Elling: Stories from New York
Singer Kurt Elling seems to be always on the go, working with his fine quartet and lending his artful vocals to a variety of other projects as time allows Whatever the situation, he brings high aesthetic values and standards He likes to...
Oct 17, 2012
Kurt Elling Shares His Favorite Chicago Places
On his latest album 1619 Broadway: The Brill Building Project, Kurt Elling takes famous pop songs like Sam Cooke's "You Send Me" and Carole King's "So Far Away," and makes them his own—experimenting with rhythms while adding...
Oct 16, 2012
Kurt Elling Electrifies San Francisco
The man who currently is regarded as "the outstanding male vocalist in jazz today," DownBeat Critics Poll Male Vocalist for thirteen years 2000 - 2012, and Grammy-award winner Kurt Elling (Dedicated To You: 2009), made a one-night appearance at...