Jazz Articles about Kurt Elling

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 ...

The Pete Ellman Big Band: The Twelve Grooves of Christmas

by Nicholas F. Mondello
December 17, 2021

As we enter the Holidays, the airwaves and digital streams flow with seasonal fare of all types of genres. And, once we ring in the New Year, said music heads back into hibernation until the next Thanksgiving and December roll around. The Pete Ellman Big Band's The Twelve Grooves of Christmas is such a fine recording that it might not be surprising for listeners to listen to it year around. The effort is that good. This high-energy ...

Kurt Elling: SuperBlue

by Angelo Leonardi
December 6, 2021

Nel pieno delle restrizioni Covid, la condizione artisticamente più difficile dopo la seconda guerra mondiale, Kurt Elling ha realizzato uno dei suoi album migliori, quello dal groove più intenso e coinvolgente.Il merito va condiviso col chitarrista Charlie Hunter e con gli altri due partner, il tastierista DJ Harrison e il batterista Corey Fonville. Chi segue la scena della black popular music attuale sa che i due sono membri del collettivo Butcher Brown, la band jazz/funk/hip-hop di Richmond che ...

Vijay Iyer Trio and Kurt Elling with the ZJM Big Band Orchestra at the Zagreb Jazz Festival 2021

by Nenad Georgievski
December 5, 2021

Zagreb Jazz Festival Lisinski Concert Hall Zagreb, Croatia November 5-7, 2021 Held in the historical Lisinski concert hall, the 12th Zagreb Jazz Festival—directed by the tireless Dražen Kokanović-unfolded over three days, although this review covers only the first two, which featured Vijay Iyer's trio with bassist Linda May Han Oh and drummer Tyshawn Sorey, and Kurt Elling with the ZJM Big Band Orchestra.Traveling with the ZJM Orchestra was a blast but the ...

Patti Austin and Kurt Elling

by Joseph Vella
August 6, 2021

Sassy from SuperBlue

by AAJ Staff
July 2, 2021

Sassy Lyrics By Kurt Elling, Charlie Hunter, Bill Bodine, Cheryl Bentyne, Janis Siegel. Music Publishers: Dill Dough Bean Music (ASCAP); Morton St. Music (ASCAP); Yikes Publishing (ASCAP). Dig! Ya really wanna flip your lid? Step up and give a listen to the singer. Hip or square, say a prayer. When money's stiff, she'll make it on a riff. She turns the major into minor cool. All over town, she is renown. Woman's the ...