Kurt Elling (born November 2, 1967) is an
American jazz vocalist, composer, lyricist and
vocalese performer. Born in
Chicago, Illinois, and raised in
Rockford, Elling first became interested in music through his father, who was Kapellmeister at a Lutheran church. Growing up, Elling sang in choirs and played various musical instruments, but wasn't exposed to jazz until he attended
Gustavus Adolphus College. Elling enrolled in graduate school at the
University of Chicago Divinity School, but left school one credit short of a master's degree to pursue a career as a jazz vocalist.
Elling began to perform around Chicago, scat singing and improvising his own lyrics. He recorded a demo in the early 1990s and was signed by Blue Note Records, releasing a total of seven albums with the label. He has been nominated for nine Grammy Awards, winning Best Vocal Jazz Album for (2009) on the Concord Jazz label. Elling often leads the Down Beat critics poll, and he was awarded the Prix Billie Holiday from the Académie du Jazz. Since 1995, Elling has collaborated with pianist, composer, and arranger Laurence Hobgood, leading a quartet that regularly tours the world.
Early life
Kurt Elling was born in Chicago, Illinois on November 2, 1967 to Henry and Martha Elling. His interest in music started with his father, who was
Kapellmeister at a Lutheran church. Elling attended elementary school at St. Paul Lutheran School in
Rockford, and throughout his early years, he sang in choirs and played violin, French horn, piano, and drums. During his middle school years, Elling remembers watching
Tony Bennett and the Woody Herman band on television and imagining what it would be like to sing with a band. In high school, Elling continued to sing in the choir: "When it was undeniably uncool and geeky and all that, to be in the choir, I did it anyway, because it was reliably beautiful, and it was rewarding, and it gave me gifts of experience and friendships."
, where he first met pianist Laurence Hobgood through saxophonist Ed Petersen]]
Elling attended Gustavus Adolphus College in St. Peter, Minnesota, where he majored in history and minored in religion. In college, Elling sang in the 70-voice Gustavus Choir, an a cappella choir that performed works from a variety of different composers, allowing him to hone his technical skills. Elling thought about continuing work in academia or working for the World Council of Churches when he graduated. Elling recalls: "By day I was reading Kant and Schleiermacher, trying to get a handle on that, and at night I was sitting-in in clubs, and, of course, you can't do both and be effective. Eventually Saturday night won out over Sunday morning." Elling remained a graduate student until January 1992, when he left school one credit short of graduation. Elling began listening to the vocalese of jazz singer Mark Murphy, who exposed him to the poetry of Jack Kerouac. The minimalism and emotion of Chet Baker's music was also influential.
Career
While living in Chicago in 1995, Elling decided he was ready to record. He had met pianist Laurence Hobgood through Ed Petersen, who played the Green Mill on Monday nights. Elling convinced Hobgood that he was ready to go into the studio, and they came out with nine solid songs. Following the advice of pianist Fred Simon, the cassette recording was sent to Bill Traut, a manager in Los Angeles, who eventually gave it to
Bruce Lundvall of
Blue Note Records.
Blue Note (1995–2005)
Two months later, Elling was signed to Blue Note, and the songs on the demo became the Grammy nominated label debut,
Close your Eyes (1995). The album features Edward Petersen and
Von Freeman on tenor saxophone, Dave Onderdonk on guitar, Laurence Hobgood on piano, Eric Hochberg and Rob Amster on acoustic bass, and
Paul Wertico on drums.
Close Your Eyes was followed several years later by The Messenger (1997), with Elling releasing a total of seven albums for the Blue Note label.
In 1999, Elling became a National Trustee for the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences, and in 2003, he was elected Vice Chair and served two terms.
Concord (2006–present)
In 2006, Elling performed on the television program
Legends of Jazz, in the episode "The Jazz Singers". Elling sang "
She's Funny That Way" and performed a duet with
Al Jarreau on "
Take Five". The recording was released on CD and DVD. In August of the same year, Elling signed a new record contract with
Concord Jazz, and his first album with the label,
Nightmoves, was released in 2007.
The follow-up, (2009), is a tribute to the 1963 recording John Coltrane and Johnny Hartman, widely recognized as one of the all-time finest jazz vocal albums. The album arose out of a 2005 concert commissioned by the Chicago Jazz Festival, showcasing the Coltrane-Hartman material. Later, Elling and pianist Laurence Hobgood rearranged the music, culminating in a performance in the Allen Room at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in New York. The concert was recorded in January 2009 and the album was released in June.
Elling is a baritone with a four-octave range, and a writer and performer of vocalese, the art of writing and performing words over improvised jazz solos. In 2007, Elling's lyrics were published in a book by Circumstantial Productions.
Collaborators
Elling has performed and recorded with
David Amram,
Bob Belden,
Joanne Brackeen,
Oscar Brown, Jr.,
Billy Corgan,
Orbert Davis,
George Freeman,
Buddy Guy,
Jon Hendricks,
Charlie Hunter,
Randy Bachman,
Bob Mintzer,
Rex Richardson, and
Bob Sheppard.
As of 2010, Elling's band included musical director Laurence Hobgood on piano, John McLean on guitar, Harish Raghavan on bass, and drummer Ulysses Owens.
Personal life
In 1996, Elling married dancer Jennifer Carney. Their daughter Luiza was born in 2005. In the same year, the Ellings purchased a condominium from
Barack Obama in
Hyde Park, Chicago.
Discography
;Blue Note Records
Close Your Eyes (1995)
The Messenger (1997)
This Time it's Love (1998)
Live in Chicago (2000)
Flirting with Twilight (2001)
Man in the Air (2003)
;Concord Records
Nightmoves (2007)
(2009)
The Gate (2011)
;Guest appearances
"Tanganyika Dance" from Bob Belden's album Shades of Blue (1996)
"Desert Way", "Close Your Eyes" from Charlie Hunter's album "Songs from the Analog Playground" (2001)
"Sim Ou Nao" from Till Brönner's album Rio (2008)
"Perdido" from John Pizzarelli's album (2010)
Elling also contributed vocals to his longtime collaborator Laurence Hobgood's three albums, Left to My Own Devices (2000), Crazy World (2005) and When the Heart Dances (2009)
Awards and nominations
Elling has won the
Down Beat Critics Poll eleven times, from 2000-2010, and the
Down Beat Readers Poll and the
JazzTimes Readers' Poll six times, all in the Male Vocalist of the Year category. He has also received the
Jazz Journalists Association Male Singer of the Year award seven times. In 2010 he received the Nightlife Award for Outstanding Jazz Vocalist in a Major Engagement.
Grammy Awards
The
Grammy Awards are awarded annually by the
National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States. On January 31, 2010, Elling won his first Grammy Award in the category of Best Jazz Vocal Album for the album
on the Concord Jazz label.
|-
|rowspan="1"|1995
|Close Your Eyes
| Best Jazz Vocal Performance
|
|-
|rowspan="1"|1997
|The Messenger
| Best Jazz Vocal Performance
|
|-
|rowspan="1"|1998
|This Time it's Love
| Best Jazz Vocal Performance
|
|-
|rowspan="1"|2000
|Live in Chicago
| Best Jazz Vocal Album
|
|-
|rowspan="2"|2001
|Flirting with Twilight
| Best Jazz Vocal Album
|
|-
|"Easy Living"
|Best Instrumental Arrangement Accompanying a Vocalist
|
|-
|rowspan="1"|2003
|Man in the Air
| Best Jazz Vocal Album
|
|-
|rowspan="1"|2007
|Nightmoves
| Best Jazz Vocal Album
|
|-
|rowspan="1"|2009
|
|Best Jazz Vocal Album
|
Publications
References
Further reading
External links
KurtElling.com - Elling's official website.
Kurt Elling at Concord Music Group.com
Kurt Elling at Blue Note Records.com
Category:1967 births
Category:1990s singers
Category:2000s singers
Category:2010s singers
Category:American jazz singers
Category:American male singers
Category:Gustavus Adolphus College alumni
Category:Living people
Category:Concord Records artists
Category:Blue Note Records artists
Category:Grammy Award winners
Category:Vocalese singers
Category:People from Chicago, Illinois
Category:People from Rockford, Illinois
Category:American baritones
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