Nov 22, 2008
KE at the London Jazz Festival
Four bands at the London jazz festival this week celebrated long-past works by John Coltrane, singer Johnny Hartman, Sidney Bechet and Eric Dolphy - the latter's edgy lyricism explored in fine detail by a trimmed-down, sax-and-vibes version of...
Nov 20, 2008
KE in London: How important are lyrics in jazz?
Many jazz classics feature vocals, but the London Jazz festival programme reveals a form dominated by instrumentalists Do singers - or lyrics for that matter - mean much to jazzers And should they As a quick scan of the current London Jazz...
Nov 20, 2008
Kurt Elling is as smooth as ever
Everything Kurt Elling does has style Back by public demand, this dapper Chicago supercrooner unveiled a suite based on the recordings of John Coltrane and singer Johnny Hartman Recalling that one was a superstar and the other almost unknown,...
Nov 07, 2008
Kurt Elling: 73rd Downbeat Readers Poll winner!
Kurt topped both the Downbeat Readers and Critics Polls this year as best male vocalist A clean sweep! 73rd Annual Downbeat Readers Poll results: Male Vocals 518 Kurt Elling 357 Tony Bennett 206 Bobby McFerrin 144 Joao Gilberto 143 Mark...
Oct 21, 2008
Singing in tongues: Kurt Elling scats his way into Rochester
Kurt Elling's Dedicated to You appearance last night at the Eastman Theatre, in a benefit for the Commencement Park, was as Jeff Spevak put it "jazz as good as it gets" The seven hundred souls who came to hear this Grammy-nominated singer were...
Oct 21, 2008
Elling soothes jazz fans with “Dedicated to You”
You look at Kurt Elling leaning coolly and casually against the piano, every inch the hip jazzman in his sharp suit and jet-black, swept-back hair, revealing the high forehead of a superior intellect You hear him scat singing or his voice...
Oct 10, 2008
Hartman and Coltrane probably smiled in heaven
The Sunday night finale show at the Monterey Jazz Festival was the most consistent for sustained pleasure Vocalist Kurt Elling, a past MJF artist-in-residence, was the perfect voice for the opening "Dedicated To You" salute to quintessential...
Oct 07, 2008
Kurt Elling on Bloomberg TV’s “Night Talk” Oct. 30
Bloomberg TV's "Night Talk" anchor Mike Schneider goes one on one with the world's most interesting people On Thursday, October 30, it's Kurt Elling! "Night Talk" provides viewers with access to some of the greatest minds in business,...
Sep 28, 2008
Dedicated to You at the Monterey Jazz Festival
At 7 pm sharp we're in the Arena for Kurt Elling's "Dedicated to You,รขโฌย a program of John Coltrane/Johnny Hartman songs and more Although this is the show he's bringing to the Ted Mann Concert Hall in Minneapolis in February as part of the...
Sep 26, 2008
Jazz for America’s Future
Jazz for America's Future presents a benefit concert, Jazz for Obama, Wednesday, October 1, 2008, 7:30 pm at New York's 92nd Street Y (92nd and Lexington) Doors open at 6:30 pm This star-studded show features Kurt Elling, Dee Dee...
Sep 15, 2008
Exceptional Tribute: Kurt Elling Sings Coltrane & Hartman
More than just supplying a new interpretation of a 45-year-old jazz classic, Kurt Elling has taken John Coltrane's 1963 songbook and applied to his voice the sort of inventiveness that the legendary saxophonist brought to his instrument at the...
Sep 12, 2008
John Coltrane & Johnny Hartman Are Channeled With Affection By Kurt Elling & Ernie Watts
It's always a treat when an artist sends you back into the library to pull out old vinyl or CDs that you have not thought about for awhile Kurt Elling, the jazz singer, and the saxophonist Ernie Watts are touring with a tribute to "John...