Nov 17, 2012
Kurt Elling at the London Jazz Festival: Dark Secrets
On Wednesdayat the Queen Elizabeth Hall, Kurt Elling blew the fluff off several generations of pop to reveal dark secrets and adult desires His repertoire celebrates the song-writers who were based in New York's Brill building – he...
Nov 16, 2012
Kurt Elling & Sheila Jordan: Two Truly Great Singers
Two singers perfectly at home on stage: one invites you to join her as if it's her living room; the other reaches out with vocal power Sheila Jordan (about to turn 84) and Kurt Elling (about 40 years younger) sang a set each, ending the...
Nov 16, 2012
Kurt Elling & Sheila Jordan: The True Spirit of Jazz
As 'jazz' becomes ever broader, interviews such as 'Hear Me Talkin' To Ya' lend the London Jazz Festival a festive atmosphere, bringing it back to its roots Sheila Jordan told vibrant and hilarious stories of being...
Nov 15, 2012
Kurt Elling: Mesmerizing
Kurt Elling walks on stage as if he owns it, launches into Come Fly with Me, and the packed audience greet him as if he were the king of jazz singers Elling's jazz festival set was dominated by numbers from 1619 Broadway, his latest album...
Nov 15, 2012
Kurt Elling and Sheila Jordan at the London Jazz Festival
Just occasionally an artist hits the truth of the song in such spectacular fashion that it makes you feel with ever greater intensity what it means to be human Last night, vocalist Sheila Jordan's performance of the Jimmy Webb standard,...
Nov 14, 2012
1619 Broadway: Some of the freshest interpretations around
The Brill Building holds a special place in popular music history, not just because of the songs crafted within its walls, but also because of what it has come to represent The ideal of the Brill Building is associated with songs that...
Nov 13, 2012
Kurt Elling, jazz singer: Portrait of the artist
When did you discover jazz By hearing people like Nat King Cole, Peggy Lee and Andy Williams My folks liked to drive across the country to visit the grandparents We'd be out in the desert, all the windows down, eating Velveeta cheese, with...
Nov 11, 2012
Blue Notes: 1619 Broadway – The Brill Building Project
There is probably no building in the world that has provided a setting for more songwriting history than 1619 Broadway in New York The Brill Building, as it is better known, was built in 1931, and attracted music industry businesses more or...
Nov 07, 2012
DownBeat’s The Hot Box: 1619 Broadway – The Brill Building Project
DownBeat critics' capsule reviews to accompany Jim Macnie's full review in DownBeat's December 2012 issue A loosely enforced license for Elling to tackle 11 pop gumdrops jazz has mostly ignored A bit of hokum and much good...
Nov 07, 2012
1619 Broadway: New perspectives and irrefutable imagination
Two memories from this summer's Newport Jazz Festival: Kurt Elling bending the shape of "Come Fly With Me" into something personalized and provocative, and Elling beaming through the wry lines of Kenneth Patchen's "Job" while onstage...
Nov 07, 2012
London Jazz Festival preview: Kurt Elling & Sheila Jordan
The poetic, technically-dazzling Chicago singer Kurt Elling has become a big star by jazz standards, even if a fondness for understatement, arthouse lyrics and unusual material will keep him from stardom of the Cullum/Krall kind His new album...
Nov 01, 2012
DownBeat’s Male Vocalist of the Year for 2012
Once again, Kurt Elling has been named Male Vocalist of the Year in both the DownBeat Critics Poll and in its Readers Poll It's a clean sweep! The 77th Annual Readers Poll results were just announced and will be featured in the December...