Kurt Elling & Charlie Hunter at Boulder Theater

Kurt Elling & Charlie Hunter
Boulder Theater
Boulder, CO
October 8, 2023

Supporting their latest collaboration album, SuperBlue: The Iridescent Spree (Edition Records, 2023), jazz icon Kurt Elling and guitar maestro Charlie Hunter offered a high-energy performance on October 8th at the Boulder Theater. The incredible duo's band featured Julius Rodriguez on keyboards and Marcus Finnie on drums. Elling and company delivered a crowd-pleasing 90-minute set filled with funky originals, innovative covers, and a few surprises.

Elling is among the most celebrated jazz vocalists, known as a baritone with a four-octave range, animated phrasing, and poetic lyrics. Hunter is a guitar phenom. Watching him play bass lines, melodies, and chords simultaneously on his hybrid guitar was unforgettable. Elling reverently called him, in the Chicago vernacular, "One bad motor scooter!" Hunter, in his casual plaid shirt and baseball cap, seated center stage, contrasted with Elling's microphone stance, dancing, stomping, and sharply whamming a red tambourine in his neat sport coat.

Elling explained to the audience how their initial collaboration began during the restraint of the pandemic lockdown. "It was irritating, trapped indoors, and I was not the best-behaved fellow at that time," said the singer. But when he got a call from his longtime pal Hunter, who explained how they could record tracks without being in the same studio simultaneously, the album SuperBlue (Edition Records, 2021) was on its way. "We put something out in the world we hoped would make a whole lot of folks feel better, and SuperBlue 'II' is like a booster shot," added Elling.

Early in the show, Elling paid homage to American bebop and cool jazz vocalist Bob Dorough, also known as the composer for the popular TV cartoon Schoolhouse Rock! "ABC thought they were going to do a public service with the show instead of getting kids to buy a bunch of plastic crap for Christmas," joked Elling. While revealing how he got hung up on math principles, the singer segued into a bluesy rendition of "Naughty Number Nine."

Throughout the show, Elling stepped aside to let talented Rodriguez and Finnie take solos. Both have impressive musical resumes. Marcus "Stix" Finnie has recorded with Kirk Whalum and toured with Larry Carlton, Donna Summer, and Billy Preston. "Orange" Julius Rodriguez is a gifted pianist who has gigged with Meshell Ndegeocello, Brasstracks, and Carmen Lundy. Their unique sound helped Elling and Hunter bridge the gap between jazz and hip-hop.

One of the highlights of the evening was "Endless Lawns" with its hypnotic line, "In love /in light /in key." Toward the song's end, Elling began with his deep, cashmere baritone and then soared with the refrain to nearly a falsetto, holding the final note for ten seconds. The audience stood and cheered in amazement.

"The Seed," a funky tune from SuperBlue, had everyone dancing at their seats and in the aisles, for a full 18 minutes. Elling and Finnie paired off at one point to perform a scat versus drum jam. During the segment, Elling gestured like some out-of-control hip-hop DJ, scratching a record. He even offered some fancy James Brown-like footwork.

With unrelenting cheers and a standing ovation, the crowd brought Elling and his crew back for an encore. It was a rousing rendition of Ray Charles' hit "Lonely Avenue," but with a twist. Channeling his best Lord Buckley hipster voice, Elling scatted out an argumentative scene between a desperate man locked out of his house trying to convince his screaming wife to let him back in. Wild!

Sunday's show was the last night of a twenty-city tour (some dates offered two shows per night) that began in May.

"I'm not talking 'bout no seven-day tour; I'm in the middle of a thirty-year tour, and that windburn is starting to show on my face. I'm hoping to get enough seniority with one of the airlines, so they let me sit inside the plane," joked the 55-year-old performer. Boulder Theater had seen the Boulderathon marathon pass by earlier in the day, and this audience enjoyed a marathon of a performance that night.

Setlist

Sassy; Sticking To My Guns; Naughty Number Nine; Blues instrumental; Manic Panic Epiphanic; Endless Lawns; The Seed.

Encore

Lonely Avenue.