Mar 26, 2011
What’s in a Grammy?
As this issue [of JazzTimes] went to press, one of the big stories in the music world was that 26-year-old Esperanza Spalding won the Grammy for Best New Artist, triumphing over such popular favorites as teen idol Justin Bieber and Canadian...
Mar 25, 2011
JazzTimes: What Makes a Jazz Singer
Kurt Elling probably wouldn't be the first to say it, but he's been on some fiendishly impressive sort of roll "I can feel, especially in the past year and a half or so, that I'm finding a new spot,รขโฌย he allows, no trace of bravado in his...
Mar 25, 2011
What Makes a Jazz Singer
Since debuting on Blue Note in 1995, Kurt Elling has earned a reputation as one of the preeminent jazz singers of our time Now based in New York City, Elling details his ascent, responds to his detractors, and sets out to define the slippery...
Mar 24, 2011
Kurt Elling Puts Jazz Spin on Classic Rock With Producer Don Was
The first time we came across Kurt Elling was in June of 1997 during a guerrilla campaign of gigs in the Northeast over a six-week stretch It was towards the end of that run and the singer was walking with crutches after a hiking mishap His...
Mar 22, 2011
Kurt Elling’s ‘The Gate’ Ventures Beyond Jazz
You don't have to be a jazz fan to appreciate Kurt Elling In fact, when you look at the names of the artists whose works he's covered, jazz may not be the first thing that comes to mind On The Gate, he turns to the music of The Beatles,...
Mar 20, 2011
Living Organism: Don Was on working with Kurt Elling
Better known as a stellar rock producer, Don Was talks to Peter Quinn about working with Elling "In all areas of music, the thing I hold at a premium is truth in the vocal -- not stylistically conscious, not technically conscious, but just...
Mar 20, 2011
Spirits from Above: Jon Hendricks on Kurt Elling
Kurt Elling's unique approach to vocalese appeals to the master of the technique himself, Jon Hendricks -- as Edward Randell discovers One of the most distinctive aspects of Kurt Elling's work is his development of the style known as vocalese:...
Mar 20, 2011
Come Running to Me
It's one of the great what-ifs of jazz Imagine, for a second, that in 1992 Kurt Elling hadn't ended up a language credit shy of gaining a Masters in Philosophy of Religion from the University of Chicago The picture might have looked something...
Mar 20, 2011
Jazzwise: Come Running to Me
Kurt Elling follows up his wondrous John Coltrane and Johnny Hartman-inspired album Dedicated To You with a soul and rock songbook-flavoured release titled The Gate produced by famed rock producer Don Was Peter Quinn talks to Kurt about the new...
Mar 18, 2011
The Gate: Jazz-pop blur
Last Saturday night, one of Ottawa's biggest jazz fans took me aside at Cafe Paradiso -- we were there to see David Braid -- to voice his disappointment with Kurt Elling's latest CD, The Gate I wasn't surprised For that long-time jazz fan,...
Mar 16, 2011
Concert review: Kurt Elling/Richard Galliano/SNJO
In less than a decade of UK appearances, the Chicago jazz vocalist Kurt Elling has ascended from intimate performances for a handful of people to the standing ovation he received at the Barbican An imaginative bill partnered him with sublime...
Mar 16, 2011
Jazz: Kurt Elling at the Barbican
His voice is an instrument A singer who has the poise and range of a saxophonist, Kurt Elling may not be a household name, yet he is at the top of the jazz tree right now A decade and a half ago, when he was just beginning to take on New York,...