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Kurt Elling
Elling may be the greatest male Jazz singer of all time. ~ Jazz Review
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December 2012: Celebrating the Light
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(c) Stephen Mudge
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In the dark of winter, we celebrate the Light!
Kurt exclaims, Merry Everything! Or at least, let's attempt it. After all, it is a commandment also to be joyful on the Earth.
Bodhi Day, when Siddhartha Gautama vowed to sit under a tree until he was enlightened, is observed December 8. Buddha means the "awakened one."
In the Jewish tradition, Hanukkah, which celebrates the triumph of light over darkness, is from sunset on December 8 to sunset on the 16th this year.
In the northern hemisphere, the Light returns at the winter solstice, December 21 at 11:12 AM UTC/GMT.
Christmas is December 25, and the twelve days of Christmas end on Epiphany, January 6.
So this December, find the spark deep within, make a jazzy, joyful noise, and celebrate the Light!Merry Everything!
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~ Passion World ~
Kurt Elling with the WDR Big Band & WDR Radio Orchestra
Under the musical direction of Michael Abene
5 December, Essen, Germany
7 December, K�ln, Germany 
Jazz speaks all languages, especially the language of love.
For this very special show, Kurt Elling
joins with the fabulous WDR Big Band & WDR Radio Orchestra to explore the language of love in a journey around the world.
Kurt performs internationally famous ballads of love and loss in their original tongues - English, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, and Spanish. Whether you're a native speaker or not, the meaning of the heart is clear.
Michael Abene, Musical Director and Principal Arranger/Composer of the WDR Big Band, has adapted the small group arrangements Kurt and Laurence Hobgood did for the 2010 version of
Passion World, featuring Richard Galliano.
The K�ln concert will be broadcast live on WDR 3! Tune in on the web at 8:00 pm K�ln time (7:00 pm UTC/GMT, 2:00 pm ET, 11:00 am PT).
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1619 Broadway: The Brill Building Project
Since its release in late September, Kurt's 1619 Broadway: The Brill Building Project has garnered great reviews from jazz writers and raves from fans, hit the Top 10 in the jazz charts for eight straight weeks, and made a number of year-end lists of the best albums of 2012.
On a recent episode of The Strand on the BBC World Service, host Mark Coles talks with Kurt and features clips from six songs from the album. It's one of Kurt's best interviews about 1619 Broadway, with lots of stories. Check it out here.
Do you have your copy? Please give us a shout and let us know what you think!
To enhance to your listening pleasure, our good friends at Concord Jazz have put together a very cool Spotify playlist with Kurt's songs from 1619 Broadway, alongside the early versions that inspired them. And check out these brief stories about each of the original tunes, too.
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 Do you hear what I hear?
Hip musical gifts from Kurt to delight you!
from Swingin' New Year's Eve 1998, National Public Radio
with Kurt & the band, featuring Orbert Davis on trumpet
and Laurence Hobgood on piano
by Patricia Barber, with Kurt, Patricia & Jim Gailloreto on tenor
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 Kurt's Store Jazz Elves are standing by 24/7 in Kurt's Store to help with holiday shopping. Please place your orders by December 18 to get them shipped before Christmas. HOLIDAY SPECIAL on Kurt T-Shirts ~ only $15 - save 25%! We're almost out of Men's, but we've got plenty of Ladies' Tees and Kids' Shirts in stock in several colors & sizes. Check 'em out in Kurt's Store. Do you have a cool pic of someone modeling a Kurt T-Shirt? Please send it to ellingstore@gmail.com. Thanks!
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1619 Broadway - The Brill Building Project
Kurt Elling with Laurence Hobgood, and featuring John McLean, Clark Sommers, Kendrick Scott, Christian McBride, Ernie Watts, Joel Frahm, Tom Luer, and Kye Palmer Watch Kurt's new video and share it with your friends!  | |
Kurt Elling | 1619 Broadway: The Brill Building Project
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Join Kurt Elling's many jazzy friends & fans in the
Forum
is chock full of music, lyrics, audios, videos, photos, projects, scripts, writing,
a great and active Forum,
and other surprises.
Come visit us often!
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Newsletter archive
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 Short Takes
The Kurt Elling Quintet comes home to Chicago's Green Mill on December 21-22 for two fabulous nights of jazz!Contrary to wild speculation, the world doesn't end on December 21, 2012 at 11:11 UTC just because the circular "long-count" Mayan calendar does. It's a calendar cycle that simply starts over. Or as Kurt puts it, "The world begins and ends all the time. Get used to it."
Kurt and Sheila Jordan
performed a double bill at the recent London Jazz Festival. That show will be broadcast on on Sunday 6 January 2013 at 11:00 pm UTC/GMT (8:00 pm ET / 5:00 pm PT).
Have you heard Kurt's haunting version of River Man on Lee Ritenour's Rhythm Sessions? Lee says it has the quality of a modern standard. Now Concord is holding a Super Fan Giveaway with great prizes, including a Yamaha AC3R guitar signed by Lee himself, cool magazine subscriptions, headphones, guitar strings, & copies of the CD. Enter before January 10, 2013. It's free & easy!
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| DECEMBER-JANUARY Gigs |
December 5, 2012Kurt Elling with the WDR Big Band Alfried Krupp Saal Philharmonie EssenHuyssenallee 53 Essen, GERMANY December 7, 2012Kurt Elling with the WDR Big Band Broadcast live on Radio WDR 3PhilharmonieBischofsgartenstra�e 1 K�ln, GERMANY Note: If you have difficulty hearing the broadcast, put this web address into your favorite media player to get the live stream: http://www.wdr.de/wdrlive/media/wdr3.m3u
December 9, 2012Kurt Elling with the Latvian Radio Big Band with Laurence Hobgood on piano Concert CentreK.Valdemāra 5 Rīga, LATVIA December 12, 2012Kurt Elling with Estonian Dream Big Band with Laurence Hobgood on piano J�ulujazz 2012Nokia Concert Hall Estonia pst. 9 Tallinn, ESTONIA December 21-22, 2012TWO SHOWSKurt Elling Quintet Green Mill4802 N. Broadway Chicago, IL December 29, 2012 - January 1, 2013FOUR SHOWSKurt Elling Quintet Umbria Jazz Winter #20Orvieto, ITALY January 8-12, 2013TEN SHOWS - TWO EACH NIGHTKurt Elling Quintet Birdland315 W. 44th Street New York, NYJanuary 19, 2013
TWO SHOWSKurt Elling Quintet The Cabaret at the Columbia Club 121 Monument Circle Indianapolis, INJanuary 27-February 3, 2013 Kurt Elling Quartet The Jazz Cruise Sails from Fort Lauderdale, FL to Nassau, St. Thomas, St. Barths, & Half Moon Cay and back
Coming up!
In February, Kurt and the band take the 1619 Broadway tour to the West Coast and the Midwest for 15 shows, and then in March they head back to Europe, Turkey, and Russia, before returning to North America.
All of Kurt's upcoming gigs in 2013 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 180 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 booking agency, IMN (International Music Network). Thank you! |
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Have you visited Kurt's new website?
We've added some great new features, including kPod, Kurt's online Radio, for your listening pleasure, a V-D-O section for delightful hours of viewing, favorite fan photos of Kurt (please submit yours, too!), and now you can also follow Kurt on Instagram. And of course, we've got all the things you loved about the old site, including the Touring page with Kurt's confirmed gigs from now into June 2013, the active fan Forum, Kurt's Store, Kurt's Music
including lyrics and bonus audio, Projects, and more.
And please tell your friends so they can discover the many dimensions of Kurt's artistry!
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Your Moment of Elling . . .
Music can help us see beyond the darkness.
Music can give us a healing, an empowering,
a lightening of the load -
not in a frivolous way - but in a mysterious way.
After all, we are not surrounded by darkness.
We are surrounded instead by a circle of light
whose center is everywhere,
and whose circumference is nowhere.
This light is full of grace,
and we all take part in its essence.
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