Jazz Articles about Kurt Elling

The Continuing Evolution of Kurt Elling

by Mathew Bahl
August 23, 2023

"I feel like at this point in my career I don't have to prove that I can do fifteen different things to greater or lesser degrees of expertise." Kurt Elling is discussing the genesis of his latest record, Flirting With Twilight. “I've made these roller coaster rides every time," says the Chicago-based jazz singer referring to his four Grammy-nominated CDs on the Blue Note label. “Even on This Time, It's Love there were still these elements of the ...

Kurt Elling & Charlie Hunter: SuperBlue: The Iridescent Spree

by Chris May
June 14, 2023

As Shakespeare said, if it ain't broke, don't fix it. Kurt Elling and Charlie Hunter follow up their Grammy-nominated 2021 album, SuperBlue (Edition), with another sublime blend of jazz and groove. As on the first disc, jazz is represented by Elling, groove by Butcher Brown keyboardist DJ Harrison and drummer Corey Fonville. Hunter, who has had a foot in both camps for over two decades, acts as marriage broker. Some jazz fans have an aversion to singers, ...

Laila Biali: Your Requests

by Dan Bilawsky
May 16, 2023

While the jazz pipeline produces plenty of artists who pay no mind to an audience's interests, those types--figures with tunnel vision, in many if not most ways--rarely reach their full potential. Instead, it's the musicians who make it a point to communicate who tend to forge the strongest bonds with those on the receiving end. Laila Biali is one such figure. This JUNO-winning gem of a vocalist, pianist, arranger and songwriter always manages to connect. Biali has a keen awareness ...

Steven Feifke: The Generation Gap Jazz Orchestra

by Angelo Leonardi
May 10, 2023

Metti assieme un talentoso giovane orchestratore come Steven Feifke, un trombettista di prima grandezza come Bijon Watson e una big band con grandi nomi e prestigiosi ospiti e il risultato è scontato. Il debutto della Generation Gap Jazz Orchestra è stato propiziato dalla collaborazione col Jazz Education Network ed ha assunto le vesti di un album includendo in organico ospiti di rilievo come Kurt Elling, Sean Jones e Chad Lefkowitz Brown. Il principale riferimento è la tradizione ...

Kurt Elling featuring Charlie Hunter SuperBlue at Bluenote In Milan

by Roberto Cifarelli
November 14, 2022

Generation Gap Jazz Orchestra: The Generation Gap Jazz Orchestra

by Jack Bowers
September 12, 2022

The Generation Gap Jazz Orchestra, co-led by pianist/composer Steven Feifke and trumpeter par excellence Bijon Watson, is a seventeen-member ensemble comprising seasoned players paired with young lions who are poised to capture pride of place. Nowhere do the leaders say who is in which group, and it would be impolitic to name them here. Suffice to say that some of the names may be more familiar than others--as, for example, trombonist John Fedchock who cut his teeth with one of ...

Chris Walden: Missa Iubileum Aureum: Golden Jubilee Jazz Mass

by Jack Bowers
August 30, 2022

First things first: there is no doubt that Chris Walden's reverential Missa Iubileum Aureum ("Golden Jubilee Jazz Mass") is beautifully written and wonderfully performed by the LMR Jazz Orchestra, St. Dominick's Schola Cantorum and cantors Kurt Elling and Tierney Sutton. Is it jazz? That is another question, one not so easily answered. While there are elements of jazz, they are incidental and generally overshadowed by the more doctrinal aspects of what is essentially an homage to devotion and piety. And ...