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Kurt Elling
Jazz singing at its virtuosic, life-affirming, risk-taking best ~ The Arts Desk
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November 2013: Jazz, Joy, and Gratitude
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My Dear Friends,
 Fall is in high gear here in New York and I'm happy to say there is progress on all fronts. I have been writing a play with music that has been in my head for some time now. Arranger and composer Guy Barker has come on board informally as that project moves forward. Also, I'm reviewing recordings with an eye toward the production of Passion World, my program of songs of love & loss in their original languages, the release of which you can look forward to in 2015.
In other news, my long-time musical collaborator Laurence Hobgood is stepping out to focus on his own projects as a leader. After almost 20 years on the road together it's simply time for a change. Of course we all have mixed feelings about such a change, but I assure you that it is all for the highest good. I look forward to reconnecting with him creatively at a mutually satisfying juncture down the road. Godspeed, Laurence!
I'm so happy to have won once again the DownBeat Readers Poll! And how about you? Drop me a line in the Forum on my website or on the KE Facebook page. I love hearing from you.
I also wish you and yours a very Happy Thanksgiving. I hope your day gives you even more for which to be grateful.
Take care of each other,
KE
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Kurt's concerts in November & December
On November 23, Kurt performs with the National Symphony Orchestra at The Kennedy Center in Washington, DC as part of legendary soprano Renée Fleming's American Voices featuring special guest vocalists from a variety of musical genres, including Broadway sensations Sutton Foster and Norm Lewis, jazz veterans Kurt Elling and Dianne Reeves, gospel diva Kim Burrell, pop star Josh Groban, country/bluegrass star Alison Krauss, and opera singer Eric Owens.
Renée Fleming was featured in an Art Talk interview on the National Endowment for the Arts blog last August:
Did you know that Renée Fleming had planned to be a jazz singer? Lucky for us "The People's Diva" fell in love with classical music and the rest, as they say, is history. A history that includes four Grammy awards, Sweden's Polar Music Prize, and as of this past July, the 2012 National Medal of Arts, not to mention performances at all of the world's great opera houses, and special occasions such as the Obama Inaugural Celebration at the Lincoln Memorial, Queen Elizabeth II's Diamond Jubilee, the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, and the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize Ceremony....
Fleming says, "I'm always researching new repertoire for concerts and recordings, and I listen copiously to singers from all walks of life. I'm still a jazz fan, and the music of Kurt Elling, Brad Mehldau, and Bill Carrothers are recent constants, and Joni Mitchell will remain a touchstone."
In early December, Kurt travels to the Czech Republic & Austria to perform with singer Vojtěch Dyk & the B-Side Band, led by Josef Buchta. They present two shows in Brno, two in Prague, and then one in Vienna, from December 3-7.To close out 2013, the Northlight Theatre in Skokie, IL presents a special New Year's Eve concert with Kurt and the Quintet.Then the Kurt Elling Quintet welcomes 2014 with two shows at The Green Mill in Chicago on January 3-4.And then it's all new notes & new adventures in the new year!
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New Year's Eve with Kurt Elling at the Northlight Theatre, Skokie, IL
 This special evening will feature two full sets of celebratory music, including some from Passion World, Kurt's program of songs of love and loss sung in their original tongues.
The concert begins at 8:00 pm, with a pre-concert reception at 6:30 for those with VIP tickets.
Come start the New Year right enjoying great jazz with your friends, or go out for more festivities later on! Get tickets today. .
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Kurt Elling: DownBeat's Male Vocalist of the Year!
 Kurt Elling has been named Male Vocalist of the Year in both the 2013 DownBeat Critics Poll and its Readers Poll. It's a clean sweep!
The 78th Annual Readers Poll results were recently announced and are featured in the December 2013 issue of DownBeat, available on newsstands November 19. The DownBeat Critics Poll results were announced earlier this year. This is the eighth year Kurt has topped the DownBeat Readers Poll, winning in 2002, 2004, 2006, 2008, 2009, 2011, 2012, and now 2013. He's won the top spot in the Critics Poll fourteen years in a row, ever since 2000, which may well be an unprecedented achievement. With 24,552 voters casting ballots, the 2013 DownBeat Readers Poll generated the largest voter turnout to date. Kurt won Male Vocalist of the Year with 2832 votes. First runner-up Tony Bennett got 1818 votes. Jazz writer Ted Panken's fine in-depth feature on Kurt is also in the December issue of DownBeat. Check it out here. As Kurt tells Panken,
"I don't take these polls for granted. I'm grateful for them, because I know at a certain point, it won't be me. It will be a guy who's worked really hard, and I'll be tired, or not touring as much, or in the next stage of my career. I vividly remember being in the 10th row, digging on Mark Murphy or Jon Hendricks or Andy Bey. I say this without false modesty, but a healthy part of me thinks that as long as those guys are performing at all, any one of them should be at the top of the list."
"I'm at a nice, fat hinge point, the age when you look back and look forward," he said. "You think about what you're supposed to be doing next, how you're going to pull it off, who you're going to work with, what does it really mean to you now. I don't have a specific strategy, other than to work through it and pay attention like I always do."
Thanks to everyone who voted this year, congratulations to all of the 2013 winners, and bravissimo to Kurt!
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On November 2nd, Kurt celebrated his 46th journey around the sun.
His many fans & friends worldwide wish him the jazziest of birthdays
and many happy returns!
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Grammy-nominated!
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 1619 Broadway 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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 Short Takes
Hey, it's the Man in the Air! This cool billboard was spotted on the Eisenhower Expressway / I-290 between the S 17th & S 25th Street exits near Chicago.
Click here for a larger version, courtesy of the Dominican University Performing Arts Center.
Tune in on November 21 when Irvin Mayfield & the New Orleans Jazz Orchesta bring New Orleans to Chicago for a performance at the Chicago Theatre with special guests Allen Toussaint, the Preservation Hall Jazz Band, Kurt Elling, & American Idol alum Haley Reinhart. This show will be broadcast live on WWOZ radio in New Orleans from 8:00-11:30 pm CST, and you can listen to it live streamed on the Internet.
Celebrate autumn in New York from noon to 4:00 pm this Saturday, November 9, at the free public festival, Jazz & Colors, in Central Park. This festival features 30 bands in 30 locations around the Park all playing 1 setlist.
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| NOVEMBER-JANUARY Gigs |
November 14, 2013
Kurt Elling Quintet
The Rose Theatre
1 Theatre Lane
Brampton, Ontario
CANADA
November 15, 2013
Kurt Elling Quintet Sean O'Sullivan Theatre Brock University Centre for the Arts 500 Glenridge Ave St. Catharines, Ontario CANADA November 23, 2013 Renée Fleming: American Voices The National Symphony Orchestra with Kurt Elling & other special guest vocalists The Kennedy Center 2700 F Street, NW Washington, DC December 3, 2013 Special guest Kurt Elling with Vojtěch Dyk and the B-Side Band Mahen Theatre Malinovského náměstí 571/1 657 70 Brno CZECH REPUBLIC
December 4, 2013 Special guest Kurt Elling with Vojtěch Dyk and the B-Side Band Janáček Theatre Rooseveltova 31/7 602 00 Brno CZECH REPUBLIC
December 5-6, 2013 TWO SHOWS Special guest Kurt Elling with Vojtěch Dyk and the B-Side Band Congress Centre Prague Nad Obcí I/24 140 00 Prague 4 CZECH REPUBLIC
December 7, 2013
Special guest Kurt Elling with Vojtěch Dyk
and the B-Side Band
Porgy and Bess
Riemergasse 11
1010 Vienna
AUSTRIADecember 31, 2013 Kurt Elling Quintet Northlight Theatre 9501 Skokie Blvd Skokie, IL January 3-4, 2014 Kurt Elling Quintet The Green Mill 4802 N. Broadway Ave
Chicago, ILJanuary 24, 2014 Kurt Elling Quintet Main Stage Theater South Miami-Dade Cultural Arts Center 10959 SW 211th St Cutler Bay, FL January 25, 2014 Kurt Elling Quintet Duncan Theatre Palm Beach State College 4200 Congress Ave Lake Worth, FL January 26 - February 2, 2014 Kurt Elling Quintet The Jazz Cruise: Jazz Around the World Sails from Fort Lauderdale, FL to Turks & Caicos,
San Juan, St. Maarten, & Half Moon Cay and back Coming up!
In February 2014 the KEQ performs in Minneapolis, Brookfield, WI, and Glen Ellyn, IL. Then Kurt's off to Scotland for three performances with the Tommy Smith and the Scottish National Jazz Orchestra in Perth, Edinburgh, and Glasgow.
All of Kurt's gigs for the rest of 2013 and into May of 2014 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 is on the road upwards of 180 nights a year. He only performs where he's been invited (by people who write checks!) and he doesn't get to set his 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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Your Moment of Elling . . .
 | | "I Like the Sunrise," Kurt Elling & the Modern Art Orchestra, March 2013 |
Don't worry about saving this music
or be scared if the singing ends
or the piano breaks a string
for we have fallen to a place
where everything is music and singing
everything is recovered and new
ever new and musical...
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November finds the Kurt Elling Quintet in Ontario, CANADA for two shows. On November 14, they play at 
