All Your Jazz Review: Kurt Elling’s new release “Dedicated to You”
Recorded on January 21st, 2009 in Manhattan as part of Lincoln Center’s American Songbook series, the album packs the best of the live performance into twelve tracks bursting with a stunning spectrum of music, both vocal and instrumental. It opens with an introductory rendering of the American Songbook classic, “All or Nothing At All,” in which the interconnectedness between Kurt Elling’s vocal and Ernie Watts‘ tenor saxophone calls up immediate references to the Coltrane/Hartman source
It is the second track, however, that sets the stage for the balance of the recording. It begins with a laid-back, floating exposition of the standard tune, “It’s Easy To Remember,” creating an atmospheric setting for Elling’s description of the original Coltrane/Harman recording. He describes how the participants – John Coltrane and Johnny Hartman – had met just a week earlier, played only a few pieces together informally, how they had no charts, had made no formal musical arrangements, or even had a real rehearsal, as such.
Artist: Kurt Elling
Album: Dedicated to You: Kurt Elling Sings the Music of Coltrane and Hartman
Release Date: June 23rd, 2009
Label: Concord Records
Recorded live at Lincoln Center, the premier vocalist of his generation salutes and re-interprets one of the greatest jazz albums of all time.
It’s a compelling story, and Elling describes it with the articulateness of the poet he is, noting that one of the album’s most memorable tunes – “Lush Life” – was included because Coltrane and Hartman heard Nat Cole singing it on the car radio as they drove to the session. And he also adds the remarkable fact that, despite the almost utter lack of preparation, all the songs on the session – except one where the drummer drops a stick – were completed in single takes.
Other tracks place Elling’s voice in stirring textures of sound from the Ethel Quartet: a floating rendition of “Dedicated To You” – a song associated with the duo of Billy Eckstine and Sarah Vaughan, as well as Coltrane and Hartman – sung over turbulent strings; the lovely positioning of the vocal over the contrapuntal quartet lines of “Say It Over and Over”; the atmospheric blend of voice and string quartet alone amid the piquant dissonances of Jim Gailloreto’s arrangement of “My One and Only Love.”
This is a truly unique album that will catch most people’s attention. When asked about the process of interpreting the various songs, Elling commented:
“We wanted to honor the original arrangements, but not be bound
by them. It was important for us to recast a number of things, so
that we could present the entirety of it with a fresh shine.”
He comments further that although history informs us, it should also inspire us. While putting his own spin on it, Elling still remains true not only to the original recording, but also to jazz history.
The album hits the shelves June 23rd, 2009 – be sure to place your pre-order
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