Blog
May 23, 2007
Elling delivers an exceptional album
To say that vocalist Kurt Elling has tremendous range only reveals part of the picture Listening to Live at MCG with Kurt Elling (MCG Jazz, 2004), which he recorded with the Bob Mintzer Big Band, Elling's seemingly effortless move from low to...
May 04, 2007
Blue Notes No More For Kurt Elling
There was a time when a little bit of Kurt Elling went a long way The insanely talented singer always seemed to balance precariously on the gossamer between genius and schmaltz, but Elling always had a knack for pulling the reins tight just...
Apr 25, 2007
Best vocal release of the millennium
More than any other kind of music, jazz, to be great or even good, requires a fierce individualism, whether the players are solo or in groups Rules are acknowledged, and then they must be broken, trounced Jazz titans---Ellington, Armstrong,...
Apr 12, 2007
Nightmoves rivals Man in the Air in magnificence
If there is a royal bloodline of male jazz singers, I'd suggest it progresses from Satchmo to Mel Torme to Jon Hendricks to Mark Murphy to Kurt Elling After Elling (who, still a few months shy of his 40th birthday, may long reign), a cyclonic...
Apr 12, 2007
Downbeat: Nightmoves ****1/2
The references range far and wide on Kurt Elling's Concord debut The Chicago-based singer-- framed by nuanced charts from Laurence Hobgood, his longtime pianist/arranger, and guests Rob Mounsey and Christian McBride -- puts his idiosyncratic...
Apr 01, 2007
Nightmoves Exceeds All Expectations
When Kurt Elling issued Man In The Air on the Blue Note label in 2003, it showcased his expansive, dream weaving stage persona though the album was recorded in the studio Night Moves arrives at a time when Elling has left Blue note for the...
Mar 29, 2007
Renewal and Redemption
Everyone deserves a fresh start What's more, everyone gets a fresh start, every day: It's called "sunrise†That sounds like a bad joke, but it's true Every day is a clean slate, if we just commit ourselves to that concept This theme of...
Mar 10, 2007
Variety: Kurt is smiling!
Jazz singer Kurt Elling has taken the brazen step of composing lyrics to fit Dexter Gordon's solo on his 1976 version of "Body and Soul" The lyric wisely mentions that the experiment could be a train wreck or an insult to the memory of the...
Feb 27, 2007
Kurt Elling Wows Critics with ‘Nightmoves’
In a town known for its long history of great blues, Chicago's Kurt Elling stands as a beacon of light for jazz VOA's Doug Levine brings us up-to-date with this "Windy City" native who was recently named Male Vocalist of the Year in Downbeat...
Feb 23, 2007
Rare jazz singer lives up to hyperbolic praise
4 1/2 stars out of five It's an awful lot to live up to These days, Chicago's Kurt Elling is routinely touted as the best male jazz singer living The man who's netted a fistful of Grammy nods and Downbeat awards touched down in Victoria last...
Feb 14, 2007
Valentine’s Vocalese:Vocal master Kurt Elling romances at the Blue Note
The initial concept of the Chicago-based vocalist's new disc Nightmoves—the first to be made in three years—was to provide the soundtrack to a feature film That project, however, ultimately fell through, but Elling and his band...
Jan 19, 2007
Elling’s jazz breaks new ground
Kurt Elling is on top of the jazz world now and probably the music's most popular and acclaimed male singer, though at 39 he is still a young buck by jazz standards Let's count the ways people love him In 2006, the baritone won Down Beat...