Blog
Sep 19, 2009
MJF/52 All-Stars light up The Arena
The Arena's second event of the night, one we'll see in full, is this year's version of the Monterey Jazz Festival All-Stars supergroup: Kenny Barron on piano, Regina Carter on violin, vocalist Kurt Elling, and Russell Malone on guitar, with...
Sep 18, 2009
In a word: Extraordinary
Monterey Jazz Festival, 2009 Many view anything with the term "All-Stars†in it with a healthy dose of skepticism, and no wonder If you've regularly watched baseball's All Stars game, it often seems like most of the players are phoning it...
Sep 15, 2009
A Heartfelt and Swinging Tribute
It is one of a handful of jazz albums you are likely to find in non-jazz listeners' collection John Coltrane and Johnny Hartman, the eponymous collaboration between the legendary tenor saxophonist and the jazz vocalist's jazz vocalist, is...
Aug 21, 2009
An album to be savored like fine wine
Among his many musical interests, Kurt Elling has long been an avid interpreter of standards However in recent years he has focused his attention on more contemporary repertoire and occasional forays into original material, culminating in his...
Aug 08, 2009
Crooner of the highest class
Kurt Elling: Dedicated to You The fine art of jazz singing is regularly dumbed down by the talent-show talentless, so it's a delight to check in with Elling's rich baritone on this live set True, his tribute to Johnny Hartman and John Coltrane...
Aug 06, 2009
Divine time capsule of jazz synapse
Having been in the enviable position of hearing Kurt Elling live at Chicago's intimate, former speakeasy the Green Mill on SRO evenings, I wondered if his mellifluous tonality and spot-on phrasing could come equally alive on a recording On...
Aug 01, 2009
Scatting cool cat Elling captures fans’ attention
I usually dislike the term vocalÂist when what people really mean is singer, but in the case of Kurt Elling, who's riding a critical wave with his latest recording, Dedicated to You: Kurt Elling Sings the Music of Coltrane and Hartman, it...
Aug 01, 2009
Dedicated to You: Being true to its essence
The Johnny Hartman-John Coltrane partnership left a small discography but a large shadow On Dedicated To You, Kurt Elling and Ernie Watts further memorialize and enshrine that brief encounter—only six songs—in the best...
Jul 31, 2009
Elling has never sounded so overtly melodic, so luminous
Kurt Elling's eighth album, his second release for Concord Jazz, provides a beautiful commentary on the classic 1963 album John Coltrane And Johnny Hartman Recorded live as part of Lincoln Center's American Songbook series, Elling moves through...
Jul 27, 2009
Voice and imagination in perfect harmony
The singer from Chicago has always been immensely talented but listening to his early recordings now, and fine as they are, they are not a patch on the latest ones In the last few years either his voice has caught up with his imagination, or...
Jul 27, 2009
Kurt Elling: Recasting Brilliance
When Johnny Hartman and John Coltrane recorded their one and only album together they created a moment that shaped the art of vocal jazz An instant of beauty transformed into history Despite a bias towards the original recording, after...
Jul 27, 2009
An intimate reconsideration of an intimate moment in jazz history
"Mr Elling has proved his finesse as a Hartman-like melodistaccessing both Coltrane and Hartman, he sounded like no one but himself†– New York Times In 1963, legends John Coltrane and Johnny Hartman issued their landmark...