Kurt Elling

The standout male jazz vocalist of our time -- The New York Times

   
April 2012:  Jazz Crossing Borders and Cultures


Kurt Elling in New Zealand 

Rodger Fox & the WJODuring the first week of April, Kurt performs in Palmerston North, Wellington, and at the 50th National Jazz Festival in Tauranga with Rodger Fox's award-winning Wellington Jazz Orchestra (WJO) and special guest, Eric Marienthal on tenor saxophone.
Rodger Fox & the WJO
Rodger Fox, an acclaimed New Zealand trombonist, big band leader, and jazz educator, arranged this mini-tour as a fundraiser for the WJO's upcoming trip to the United States in June, which will culminate with three days of recording at the legendary Capitol Studios in Los Angeles. 

At Capitol, the full band can record in a single room, rather than recording each instrument separately and mixing it together afterwards. "It's the collective blend of the band playing. Just to be able to do it in one of the last legendary studios is a great experience," says Fox. "For most of us who record, to record in an international studio is an experience of a lifetime."

Grammy-winner Eric Marienthal recorded six CDs with the Chick Corea Elecktric Band.  He's also performed with Elton John, Stevie Wonder, Dave Grusin, Ramsey Louis, and many others.

Kurt was interviewed on two Radio New Zealand programs at the beginning of this mini-tour.

Listen to Kurt in conversation with Lynn Freeman on Nine To Noon, Radio New Zealand, 2 April 2012.

Listen to Kurt in conversation with David Morriss on Upbeat, Radio New Zealand, 2 April 2012.

Watch Eric Marienthal with the Wellington Jazz Orchestra performing "Body and Soul" (2009).


Kurt Elling Swings Sinatra


Frank Sinatra in Paris 1962
AFP/AFP/Getty Images

The year was 1962.


In April, Frank Sinatra embarked on a two-month World Tour for Children, performing in 30 shows in 12 countries, with the Bill Miller Sextet. His June 7, 1962 concert in Paris was recorded but not released until 1994 as Sinatra & Sextet: Live in Paris. Some consider it one of the best recordings of his career. The tour was exhausting but personally satisfying, and when Sinatra returned home in late June, he'd raised more than a million dollars for children's charities worldwide. He was the tour's sole sponsor, underwriting the expenses himself, for all the musicians and technical crew.  

 

Kurt Elling 2012Fifty years later, Kurt Elling Swings Sinatra celebrates this album of Sinatra in peak form, as only Kurt can do, with richly told stories of a fascinating moment in time.

Kurt is joined by his own sextet, featuring special guests Joel Frahm on tenor sax and Brandon Lee on trumpet, with Clark Sommers, bass, Lewis Nash, drums, and his long-time musical director and collaborator, Laurence Hobgood on piano.

Kurt Elling Swings Sinatra comes to the East Coast at the end of April, with performances in New York, Vineland, NJ, and Philadelphia, and in mid-May in Pittsburgh. Please see APRIL-MAY Gigs below for details.

Watch Frank Sinatra perform "You're Nobody Till Somebody Loves You" at the Royal Festival Hall in London, June 1, 1962 (08:57), just days before his acclaimed Paris concert. 
 

Kurt Elling at the Metropole Orkest's 
International Arrangers Workshop

From March 19-24, eight very talented young arrangers, chosen from about 200 applicants, participated in the 2012 Metropole Orkest's International Arrangers Workshop. Vince Mendoza, conductor of the Metropole Orkest, declared, "Of the 15 years that we've been doing this, this is the finest group of students that I've seen here -- or anywhere for that matter."
Metropole Arrangers Workshop
Front: Vince Mendoza, Erica Seguine, Vidjay Beerepoot, Laura Winkler,
Christian Els�sser, Malte Schiller
Back: Rasmus Puur, Daniel Jamieson, Kurt Elling
Not pictured: Jesse Passenier

Introducing:


Rasmus Puur (Estonia)
Malte Schiller (Germany)
Laura Winkler (Austria)
Vidjay Beerepoot (The Netherlands)
Christian Els�sser (Germany)
Daniel Jamieson (Canada)
Erica Seguine (USA)
Jesse Passenier (The Netherlands)

Each wrote an arrangement for Kurt to perform at the Grand Finale Concert in Rotterdam.

Mendoza told the concert audience that night:
Arranging is extremely easy.  All you do is you take a piece of music that's probably written by somebody else, and you put in a frame, and you write a beginning and an ending, and you give it to a great orchestra to play, and it sounds great and everybody's happy, and you go home.  Right?

It's easy.  Except that, what kind of frame are you going to put it in, and when they say, put some of yourself into it, what does that mean and what is yourself, and what kind of orchestra are you writing for, and what are the instruments, and how do you write for the instruments, and how much should you write for the instruments, and how do the instruments work, and how do you communicate your ideas, and how do you get a job when you're done figuring all that stuff out? These are maybe a small percentage of the things we talked about this week in the Arrangers Workshop.
The Grand Finale Concert in Rotterdam featured the Metropole Orkest and Vince Mendoza, with special guests Kurt Elling on vocals and the "unbelievably swinging" Ulysses Owens on drums.

Kurt said later, "I was deeply impressed by ALL of the arrangements. They uniformly reflected deep musical intelligence and communicated transparent emotion. I thank all the fine young arrangers for their dedication to craftsmanship and hard work. I look forward to performing these with the orchestra once again at the The Meer Jazz Festival in Hoofddorp, NL on June 2  . . . and well into the future."


Selections from the concert were broadcast over two weekends on Co Live!, the Soul & Jazz radio program hosted by Co de Kloet on Radio 6 in The Netherlands.  Those are are now available as podcasts for your listening pleasure.  The full broadcasts are four hours each.  The segments with Kurt and the Metropole Orkest are listed below.

Part 1: Sunday, March 25, 2012
From 2:22:50-2:25:00 Kurt describes the tunes and their selection.
From 2:27:25 to 2:58:35 Vince Mendoza introduces Kurt and they play:
Butterfly (Herbie Hancock) - Rasmus Puur, arranger
Speak No Evil (Wayne Shorter / lyric by Kurt Elling) - Malte Schiller, arranger
Duke Ellington's Sounds of Love (Charles Mingus) - Laura Winkler, arranger
Tempted (Squeeze) - Vidjay Beerepoot, arranger

Part 2:  Sunday, April 1, 2012
Beginning at 2:02:50, the Metropole Orkest plays:
A Streetcar Named Desire (Alex North)
From 2:13:10 to 2:38:00 they perform:
An American Tune (Paul Simon) - Christian Els�sser, arranger
Late Night Willie (Keith Jarrett / lyric by Kurt Elling) - Daniel Jamieson, arranger
Time To Say Goodbye (Joe Zawinul / lyric by Kurt Elling) - Erica Seguine, arranger
From 2:40:30 to 2:47:25 they perform:
Tutti For Cootie (Duke Ellington / lyric by Kurt Elling) - Jesse Passenier, arranger
From 2:47:55 to 2:55:50 there is an interview and they conclude with:
Esperanto (Vince Mendoza / lyric by Kurt Elling) - Vince Mendoza, arranger

Bravo to all these talented arrangers!

And if you'd like to read Kurt's new lyrics for Speak No Evil and Late Night Willie, they're in Kurt's book, LYRICS, Second Edition, now available in the Kurt Store. Time to Say Goodbye and Esperanto are included, too.  Check it out!

The Gate cover
Grammy nominated!
The Gate
Kurt Elling with Laurence Hobgood, and featuring John Patitucci, John McLean, Bob Mintzer, Terreon Gully, Kobie Watkins, and Lenny Castro. Produced by Don Was.


 

Watch the behind-the-scenes

video and listen to Don Was

talk about The Gate, Kurt, and the band. 

 


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  Eighth notes Short Takes  

April is the Smithsonian's 11th annual Jazz Appreciation month.  This year's theme is 
Jazz Crossing Borders & Cultures, exploring activism and music.
2012 Jazz Appreciation Month

According to the Washington Post, "To illustrate how musicians often took a stand on civil rights issues, the program is highlighting a 1945 song "The House I Live in," by Frank Sinatra. Sinatra's image by LeRoy Neiman is feature on the 2012 JAM poster (above).

"The song, along with a 10-minute short, was an appeal for religious tolerance, unity and freedom after World War II, a time when many African-American veterans were angry that they were returning home to Jim Crow conditions and second-class treatment after their war service."

Watch Sinatra perform two version of the song here.

v

Kurt performs twice at this year's Newport Jazz Festival on August 5 with the Kurt Elling Quintet and again with John Hollenbeck's Claudia Quintet + 1, featuring Kurt and Theo Bleckmann on vocals.

Kurt's fans get $10 off general admission tickets for Fort Adams State Park events by buying on-line with promo code DOF3 by Monday, April 30, 2012.
v

Kate McGarry - Girl Talk

 

Kurt performs a lovely duet, "O Cantador," with Kate McGarry on her new album, Girl Talk (Palmetto Records), to be released April 10.  Listen to a clip here and read an early review.

 

v

   

In January, Kurt performed half a dozen shows on the 2012 Jazz Cruise. 

 

Kurt Elling: Straight Ahead, Lee Mergner's JazzTimes article about Kurt's performances,  includes three video interviews in which Kurt talks about his early musical development, his many upcoming projects and his experiences on the cruise.

 

Mergner wrote earlier, "Elling did songs from every era of his now 17-year career and didn't hesitate to mix up the arrangements and repertoire, letting the air or tempo out of some tunes and speeding others up to a breakneck pace. His command of the stage and spontaneous repartee with the not-the-least-bit-shy audience showed the value of all of those years."  

 

APRIL - MAY Gigs
April 3, 2012
Kurt Elling featuring Rodger Fox's Wellington Jazz Orchestra
with special guest Eric Marienthal
The Globe Theatre
312 Main St
Palmerston North, NEW ZELAND

April 4, 2012
Kurt Elling featuring Rodger Fox's Wellington Jazz Orchestra
with special guest Eric Marienthal
The Opera House
111-113 Manners Street
Wellington, NEW ZELAND

April 6, 2012
Kurt Elling featuring Rodger Fox's Wellington Jazz Orchestra
with special guest Eric Marienthal
50th National Jazz Festival
Baycourt Theatre
38 Durham Street
Tauranga, NEW ZEALAND

April 25, 2012
Kurt Elling Swings Sinatra
92Y Jazz
92nd Street Y
Lexington Avenue at 92nd Street
New York, NY

April 27, 2012
Kurt Elling Swings Sinatra
Frank Guaracini Jr. Fine & Performing Arts Center
Cumberland County College
3322 College Drive
Vineland, NJ

April 28, 2012
Kurt Elling Swings Sinatra
Zellerbach Hall
Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts
University of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, PA

May 10, 2012
John Pizzarelli and Kurt Elling
Kurt Elling Quintet
The Music Center at Strathmore
5301 Tuckerman Lane
North Bethesda, MD

May 11, 2012
Kurt Elling Quintet
Mary D'Angelo Performing Arts Center
Mercyhurst College
501 East 38th Street
Erie, PA

May 12, 2012
7:00 pm - SOLD OUT!
9:30 pm - only 2 seats still available
Kurt Elling Swings Sinatra
Manchester Craftsmen's Guild
1815 Metropolitan Street
Pittsburgh, PA

May 16, 2012
Kurt Elling with the Scottish National Jazz Orchestra
Festival Jazz sous les Pommiers
Salle Marcel H�lie
Place du G�n�ral de Gaulle
Coutances, FRANCE

May 17, 2012
Kurt Elling Quintet
Jazzclub Domicil
Hansastrasse 7-11
Dortmund, GERMANY

May 18, 2012
Kurt Elling Quintet
Movimentos Festwochen der Autostadt
ZeitHaus
Wolfsburg, GERMANY

May 19, 2012
Kurt Elling
Private master class - by invitation only
Academy of Music
Zacisze 3
Katowice, POLAND

May 19, 2012
Kurt Elling Quintet
Private concert - by invitation only
Academy of Music
Zacisze 3
Katowice, POLAND

May 20, 2012
Kurt Elling Quintet
7. Silesian Jazz Festival
Centrum Kultury Katowice
pl. Sejmu Slaskiego 2
Katowice, POLAND

May 23, 2012
Kurt Elling Quintet
Natt Jazz 2012
Banco Rotto
V�gsallmenningen 16
Bergen, NORWAY

May 25, 2012
Kurt Elling Quintet
Aspettando Estival - Free!
Centre di Lugano
Lugano, SWITZERLAND

May 26, 2012
TWO SHOWS!
Kurt Elling Quintet
Blue Note Milano
Via Borsieri 37
Milan, ITALY

May 27, 2012
Kurt Elling Quintet
Crossroads 2012 - Jazz e Altro e Emilia Romagna
Teatro Supercinema
Via Guglielmo Marconi, 1
Santarcangelo di Romagna, ITALY

May 29, 2012
Kurt Elling Quintet
Festival Jazz � Saint Germain des Pr�s Paris
Th��tre de l'Alliance Fran�aise
101 bd Raspail
Paris, FRANCE

June 2, 2012
TWO SHOWS!
Kurt Elling with the Metropole Orchestra
Meer Jazz Festival 2012
Culuurgebouw Haarlemmermeer
Hoofddorp, THE NETHERLANDS

Coming up!

In July Kurt tours Europe with guitarist Charlie Hunter and then performs a very special show with Jon Hendricks in Santa Fe, NM.

Kurt's upcoming gigs through the end of 2012 and into January are on the Touring page on his website. That's where you'll always find the most current information. Check there often, as new dates are always being added. 

To bring the KEQ to a stage near you

Kurt and Laurence are on the road about 200 nights a year. They only perform where they've been invited (by people who write checks!) and they don't get to set their own itinerary.

 

To hear Kurt and the band play in your city, region, or country, please ask your favorite jazz clubs or festivals to book them through Kurt's new booking agency, IMN (International Music Network). Thank you! 



 
Your Moment of Elling . . .



The arts stimulate and require
the maximum amount of growth
in learning and problem-solving.
Therefore, artists tend to be
the first to realize the future
and to see it coming and respond to it
like flags that feel the wind
long before anything on the ground
realizes a sense of change.