Kurt Elling

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Kurt Elling (2004)

Kurt August Elling (born November 2, 1967 in Chicago ) is an American jazz singer ( baritone ).

Life

Elling received his artistic training at renowned institutes such as Gustavus Adolphus College in St. Peter, Minnesota and the Divinity School of the University of Chicago . His pronounced interest in literature is also due to Elling's artistic trademark: Elling's demanding texts on "difficult", often unsangible compositions by modern jazz instrumentalists such as John Coltrane , Wayne Shorter and Vince Mendoza have repeatedly been highlighted by critics in reviews.

Elling also impresses his audience with the stylistic diversity of his live concerts and studio productions. He performs bebop heads in the style of Mark Murphy as well as blues and beat poetry . In his interpretation of classical jazz standards, he combines elements of so-called crooning with abstract vocal improvisations . A typical example of this is his version of My Foolish Heart (on Live in Chicago , 2000), in which Elling couples this well-known jazz ballad with an extensive modal vocal improvisation based on a text by the Spanish mystic Johannes von Kreuz .

Regular members of his trio are the pianist Laurence Hobgood and the double bass player Rob Amster , while the line-up of the drummer (including Paul Wertico ) has changed several times in recent years. Since its inception, the band has several internationally successful albums for the prestigious label Blue Note Records , since 2007 for Concord Music Group recorded. Elling won the Critics' poll of Down Beat and Jazz Times magazines several times in the “Singer” category. He is now also a member of the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences , the institution that awards the Grammys every year . He received the Grammy Award 2010 for best vocal album for Dedicated To You: Kurt Elling Sings The Music Of Coltrane And Hartman . In late 2012, his album 1619 Broadway: The Brill Building Project was nominated for a Grammy Award in the Best Jazz Vocal Album category.

Elling has lived and worked in New York City since 2008 , but still has strong relationships with structures around musicians in his hometown of Chicago, so that he is counted on the scene there and performs frequently.

Kurt Elling at the North Sea Jazz Festival , Rotterdam 2015

Discography

Blue Note albums :

  • 1995 - Close Your Eyes
  • 1997 - The Messenger
  • 1998 - This Time It's Love
  • 2000 - Live in Chicago
  • 2000 - Live in Chicago - Out Takes
  • 2001 - Flirting with Twilight
  • 2003 - Man in the Air

Albums at Concord Music Group :

  • 2007 - Nightmoves
  • 2009 - Dedicated to You
  • 2011 - The Gate
  • 2012 - 1619 Broadway: The Brill Building Project
  • 2015 - Passion World

Albums at OKeh Records :

  • 2016 -  The Beautiful Day: Kurt Elling Sings Christmas
  • 2018 - The Questions

Albums at Edition Records :

  • 2020 -  Secrets Are The Best Stories

Web links

Commons : Kurt Elling  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Grammy Nominations Announced (2012) in ( Memento of the original from December 12, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. JazzTimes @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / jazztimes.com
personal data
SURNAME Elling, Kurt
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Elling, Kurt August (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American jazz singer
DATE OF BIRTH November 2nd, 1967
PLACE OF BIRTH Chicago