All Your Jazz » Kurt Elling

Kurt Elling Touring California In July: Find out when and where to see him

jazzman — Sat, 11 Jul 2009 10:33:37 +0000

Considered by many to be he finest male jazz vocalist of his generation, Kurt Elling has just released a live CD Dedicated to You, Elling’s creative re-imagining of John Coltrane’s collaboration with “romantic balladeer” Johnny Hartman [watch for an upcoming Jazz Police review]. Johnny Hartman was the only singer ever to record with Coltrane. The Coltrane/Hartman 1963 album of ballads, Dedicated To You, is considered a masterpiece, a perfect synergy of ‘Trane’s passionate tenor saxophone and Hartman’s sensual baritone vocals.

Kurt Elling is currently touring California and celebrating that music with the Laurence Hobgood trio with special guest Ernie Watts. Must see events:

(1) Yoshi’s in San Francisco July 11th & 12th;
(2) Catalina’s Jazz Club in Los Angeles July 14th – 18th.

About His New Album:

(Available at Amazon)

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.

- Read Our Album Review
- Inside The Album, including Streaming Audio & Video

Winners Announced For 13th Annual Jazz Journalists Association Jazz Awards

jazzman — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 06:18:59 +0000

A large group of jazz’s best singers convened at the 13th annual Jazz Journalists Association Jazz Awards at the Jazz Standard Tuesday afternoon (June 16th) as Kurt Elling, Sheila Jordan, Roberta Gambarini, Giacomo Gates and Venissa Santî gathered around bebop-vocalist Mark Murphy to wish him well. Murphy, age 74, was recipient of the first “Words and Music” Awards, co-presented by the Jazz Journalists Association (JJA) and the Jazz Foundation of America, whose director Wendy Oxenhorn made an appeal for $20 donations to cover the crisis in housing and health care for musicians in need.

Kurt Elling was named Male Vocalist of the Year (Gambarini was Female Vocalist of the Year 2008). Besides the singers, the following awards winners were in attendance: Pianist Hank Jones (shown on the right), trumpeter Terrence Blanchard, alto saxophonist Rudresh Mahanthappa, Latin jazz bandleader Arturo O’Farrill, trombonist Roswell Rudd, violinist Billy Bang, reeds player Frank Wess, clarinetist Anat Cohen, organist Dr. Lonnie Smith and producer of the year George Wein. Nominees including vibeist Stefon Harris, saxophonist Noah Preminger, trombonist Clifton Anderson, flutist Jamie Baum, pianist Vijay Iyer, baritone saxophonist Claire Daly, multi-instrumentalist Scott Robinson, drummer Harris Eisenstadt and big band composer-conductor Darcy James Argue and Karen Mantler were in attendance. (see full list of winners)

So were a multitude of jazz journalists from the U.S. and overseas, including Gary Giddins, Dan Morgenstern, Ira Gitler, Francis Davis, Doug Ramsey, Dan Ouellette, Bill Milkowski, Marc Myers, David Hadju, David Adler, Art Lange, Fred Kaplan, Laurence Donohue-Greene, Chris Kelsey, Tim Wilkins, Nate Chinen, Ben Ratliff, Marcia Hillman, Hank Shteamer, Christian Broecking (Germany) and Cyril Moshkow (Russia), photographers John Abbott, Fran Kauffman, Enid Farber, Steven Sussman and broadcasters Linda Yohn (WEMU-Ypsilanti), Ben Young (WKCR-Columbia University and Becca Pulliam (WBGO-Newark) along with program director Thurston Briscoe and general manager Cephas Bowles.

- For further information about the Jazz Awards, go to www.JazzJournalists.org.
- For further information about the JJA go to www.Jazzhouse.org.

See full list of winners

Kurt Elling Among Artists Announced For OCPAC’s 2009-2010 Jazz Series

jazzman — Sat, 13 Jun 2009 23:09:58 +0000

Audiences can enjoy an array of music as interpreted by some of today’s most acclaimed performers in the Orange County Performing Arts Center’s 2009 – 2010 Jazz Series. As always, the Center has scheduled a season of musical events that features the world’s top musicians, singers and renowned ensembles.

The Jazz Series includes Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis; Esperanza Spalding; Herb Alpert and Lani Hall; Django 100; and Monterey Jazz Festival on Tour featuring Kenny Barron, Regina Carter, Russell Malone and Kurt Elling.

The Center’s 2009 – 2010 Jazz Series combines established stars and the hottest new voices and musicians in today’s jazz world. The series makes its home in the cool, intimate Samueli Theater plus one-night-only special performances in the Renée and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall. The series is schedule to start October 1st, 2009 and go through April 24th, 2010.

Pianist Kenny Barron, violinist Regina Carter, guitarist Russell Malone and seven-time Grammy-nominated vocalist Kurt Elling are among the stars in the pantheon of the world’s longest running jazz festival. These four artists, each a major jazz power, come together to create a musical experience that celebrates the legacy of this uniquely American musical style and showcases their own amazing contributions.

See full listing in OCPAC’s Performance Schedule.

Location:
Orange County Performing Arts Center
600 Town Center Drive
Costa Mesa, 92626
(714) 556-2787
www.ocpac.org

All Your Jazz Review: Kurt Elling’s new release “Dedicated to You”

jazzman — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 02:28:46 +0000

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.

(Available at Amazon)

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 soon!

Kurt Elling To Release New Album – Dedicated to You: Kurt Elling Sings the Music of Coltrane and Hartman

jazzman — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 02:00:17 +0000

On June 23rd, 2009, Grammy nominated and critically-acclaimed vocalist Kurt Elling will release Dedicated to You: Kurt Elling Sings the Music of Coltrane and Hartman, his eighth overall album and second release on Concord Jazz. The live collection was recorded in January 2009 in Manhattan as part of Lincoln Center’s American Songbook series. The 12-track release features an all-star cast of musicians including saxophonist Ernie Watts, the Laurence Hobgood Trio and the string quartet, Ethel.

All Your Jazz Review of This Album

Track List:

1. All Or Nothing At All
2. It’s Easy To Remember
3. Dedicated To You
4. What’s New (instrumental)
5. Lush Life
6. Autumn Serenade
7. Say It (Over And Over Again)
8. They Say It’s Wonderful
9. My One And Only Love
10. Nancy With The Laughing Face
11. Acknowledgements
12. You Are Too Beautiful

Streaming Tracks from Album:

(1) “Say It”
– Quicktime
– Windows Media

(2) “Dedicated To You”
– Quicktime
– Windows Media

Video:

Kurt Elling | Dedicated To You EPK from Concord Music Group on Vimeo.