Mar 16, 2011
Concert Review: Kurt Elling @ Barbican, London
Kurt Elling is that rare jazz singer who really suits a venue like the Barbican: at Ronnie Scott's, where he played a residency last July, he seemed to be playing to a non-existent gallery Despite his groundbreaking contributions to the...
Mar 15, 2011
Concert review: Kurt Elling/Richard Galliano, Barbican
The label "heir to Sinatra†is a heavy one for any singer, but Kurt Elling wears it with ease He strolled on to the stage with his trio, casually elegant, surveyed us all with pleased surprise: "Oh my goshness, look at you all†Then...
Mar 15, 2011
Pitch-perfect: Kurt Elling
Kurt Elling's stage persona is an uneasy mix of cabaret MC and inveterate jazzer His opening words – "Hello London We're ready for you Are you ready for us†– sat oddly with drummer Ulysses Owens Jr's perfectly crisp...
Mar 15, 2011
Kurt Elling: Turning his material into gold
He's been topping male jazz-vocal polls for 15 years, so Kurt Elling fans must have been surprised to find numbers by Joe Jackson, King Crimson and The Beatles on his latest recording Alarmed, too, to discover Don Was, producer of Bob Dylan and...
Mar 15, 2011
Concert review: Kurt Elling Quintet & Richard Galliano with the Scottish National Jazz Orchestra
The pre-eminent jazz singer is a very generous man An evening spent with him, his longtime musical partner, arranger and pianist Laurence Hopgood, and band would be a thoroughly satisfying one For this date not only do we get Kurt in that...
Mar 15, 2011
Concert review: Scottish National Jazz Orchestra with Kurt Elling
IN AN era when singers of many different backgrounds like to dabble with jazz and swing, real jazz singers remain at a premium There are no doubts in the case of Chicago's Kurt Elling – and saxophonist Tommy Smith's assertion that he is...
Mar 14, 2011
Review: Kurt Elling/ Richard Galliano/SNJO
Great performers, like great sportsmen, always seem to have more choices, and more time to make them And in a team sport like jazz, there is an endless fascination in seeing the directions which performers individually and collectively choose...
Mar 14, 2011
The Barack Obama of jazz, oozing all the style of Sinatra
'A bourbon Make it a double Couple of cubes†It's two in the morning, and the bar in Kurt Elling's Copenhagen hotel is staying open late just for us Elling thanks the waiter for being so amenable, then he turns to me "If only more people...
Mar 14, 2011
The Gate: A stellar jazz vocal album
It's not even close Kurt Elling is far and away the boldest, most talented and consistent male jazz singer working today Since his Blue Note debut in 1995, Close Your Eyes, Elling has presented a compelling case for the jazz vocal tradition...
Mar 14, 2011
Kurt Elling with the Scottish National Jazz Orchestra, Queen’s Hall, Edinburgh
WHATEVER John Coltrane imagined his A Love Supreme suite inspiring – world peace would have been reasonable reward – he surely can't have considered someone arriving who could turn the melody and saxophone solo from that...
Mar 11, 2011
The Gate: Perfectly controlled and stylish
With a Grammy award and eight other Grammy-nominated albums under his belt, Elling has now taken on the mantle of "world's greatest male jazz vocalist†This new album shows he wears it with panache There's something just so perfectly...
Mar 10, 2011
CD Review: The Gate
This pop-angled album from dazzling Chicago singer Elling, produced by Bonnie Raitt and Rolling Stones collaborator Don Was, features tracks like King Crimson's Matte Kudesai and Earth, Wind and Fire's After the Love Has Gone But his improv...