Jazz Articles about Kurt Elling

The Bob Mintzer Big Band: Live at MCG with Kurt Elling

by Jack Bowers
September 25, 2004

Bob Mintzer leads a superlative big band with seasoned pros in every chair, but what really gives the engine its get-up-and-go are the maestro's invariably admirable charts, unerring road maps that always ensure a smooth and delightful journey. This first-ever live album by the ensemble, recorded in May '02 at the Manchester Craftsmen's Guild in Pittsburgh, PA, is at its best on the half-dozen instrumentals, even though guest vocalist Kurt Elling does what he can to jump-start the other three. ...

Kurt Elling Group Brilliant in Saratoga Springs, NY

by R.J. DeLuke
July 10, 2004

Kurt Elling continues to show, on an extraordinarily consistent basis, that he is one of the most remarkable musicians to appear on the scene in the last decade. It's easy, and understandable, to call him a singer, or vocalist. He is that, for sure. But the instrument he carries is comprised of more than vocal chords and breath forced from lungs. He's a complete musician whose polished performances come from the soul of an artist. The twists and turns of ...

Live From Zanzibar Blue: Kurt Elling

by Victor L. Schermer
April 6, 2004

Zanzibar Blue Philadelphia, PA April 2, 2004 First Set | 8:00PM

(This is the second in a series of reviews that we will be doing from the “catbird seat” at Zanzibar Blue, Philadelphia’s premiere jazz club, located at Broad and Walnut Streets in Center City. We are grateful to the Zanzibar management for their generosity and cooperation in this venture.)

Kurt Elling is a consummate jazz vocalist packaged in the persona of a nineteen-fifties ...

Kurt Elling: Man In The Air

by Joshua Weiner
October 14, 2003

When recording songs written by other artists, the jazz musician faces a dilemma: how to pay homage to, and show respect for, the composer's vision, while at the same time bringing to the tune a fresh approach and original talent? On his new Blue Note record, Man In The Air, vocalist Kurt Elling walks this tightrope admirably, sometimes astonishingly. This is all the more impressive considering that Elling has not simply recorded songs by John Coltrane, Pat Metheny, Joe Zawinul, ...

Kurt Elling: Man in the Air

by Dan McClenaghan
October 8, 2003

It's often said of particular jazz singers: “He's (she's) really got a good set of pipes." And the compliment seems meant to denote the sheer God-given beauty of the vocal instument.

The thirty-five year old Kurt Elling, who came to jazz singing relatively late in life – though his vocal beginnings can be traced back to his boyhood, singing in the church choir – is a definite possesser of pipes. His has perhaps the most horn-like vocal approach out there: ...

Kurt Elling: Don't Measure the Limbs

by R.J. DeLuke
October 8, 2003

Art is not the application of a canon of beauty but what the instinct and the brain can conceive beyond any canon. When we love a woman we don't start measuring her limbs. --Pablo Picasso

At a time when the music scene in the United States is in a funk, and the recording industry, suffering from limping sales figures, tends to be conservative--particularly in the realm of jazz--it isn't easy to find records on major labels that take ...

Kurt Elling: Flirting With Twilight

by Jim Santella
September 1, 2001

This weekend's shopping list is now clearly defined. Just released, Kurt Elling's fifth album grabs you by the heartstrings and just won't let go. It's a ballad album from the emotional jazz singer based in Chicago. Emphasizing traditional harmony with unique inner voicing, Elling strolls with a superb horn trio and rhythm section. From a delicately soft whisper to a mighty roar, the vocalist produces dynamic changes to enhance each lyric gem. Coming from a wide range of sources, the ...