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Kurt Elling
Jazz singing at its virtuosic, life-affirming, risk-taking best ~ The Arts Desk
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April 2014: Jazz Appreciation Month (JAM)
Jazz Alchemy: A Love Supreme
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Kurt's Upcoming Concerts
April - June
 From January through March, Kurt toured extensively, performing in 8 countries, 7 states, and 22 cities, plus a series of shows at sea on the Jazz Cruise.
On April 5 he performs with the American Metropole Orchestra, directed by Keller Coker, at Western Oregon University in Monmouth, OR, about 60 miles south-southwest of Portland.
The American Metropole Orchestra (AMO) is modeled after the Metropole Orkest of the Netherlands, the world's largest professional pop and jazz orchestra. Like its counterpart, the AMO performs in a wide variety of musical styles and often features internationally renowned guest artists performing new arrangements of their works.
For this concert, Coker and his writing team have created new arrangements for Come Fly With Me, Leaving Again/In the Wee Small Hours, and A New Body and Soul. They've added strings, additional woodwinds, and even a small choir to augment Kurt's already fantastic arrangements. This concert will feature selections from a variety of Kurt's projects and recordings.
AMO director Keller Coker says, "It is such a privilege to be working with Kurt. His talent and musicianship are unparalleled." There are still some tickets left, but this show is expected to sell out!
After this concert, Kurt goes on spring break with his family to rest, renew, and enjoy the season.
Then in May, Kurt and the band hit the road again, beginning in England with two performances at the Chelthenham Jazz Festival.
On May 2, Kurt performs with the Guy Barker Big Band & the BBC Concert Orchestra in a program called Hoods, Horns & Hooch in the Big Top at the Cheltenham Jazz Festival. Featured on BBC Radio 2's Friday Night is Music Night, this program harkens back to a time when, on both sides of the Atlantic, gangsters were rife and the big band was king. Enjoy classics from this golden age of jazz with vocalists Kurt Elling, Curtis Stigers, and Liane Carroll. The BBC Radio 2 live broadcast is at 8:00 pm UTC and will also be available later for your listening pleasure.
The following evening, May 3, the Kurt Elling Quintet, with Gary Versace on piano and Bryan Carter on drums, presents Passion World at the Chelthenham Jazz Festival.
Then they're off to Canada with performances on May 9 at the Festival de musique de chambre de Montréal in St. George's Anglican Church in Montréal and on May 10 at the TELUS Centre for Performance & Learning, The Royal Conservatory, in Toronto. For those two concerts, Jim Trompeter joins them on piano.
On May 15, Kurt is the special guest with the Children's Choir of Chicago at the Harris Theatre for Music and Dance at Millennium Park in a concert called Dancing in the Street, From the United States to South Africa: Songs on the Road to Freedom. This special evening honors the 50th anniversary of the Civil Rights Act, celebrates South Africa's 20th year free from apartheid, and remembers the late Nelson Mandela. Kurt will joined by his band, with Gary Versace on piano and Christian Euman on drums.
Take advantage of this special discount for Kurt's fans for Dancing in the Street with the Children's Choir of Chicago! Use promo code CCCKURT to save 10% on all tickets.
Then Kurt travels to Denmark for five concerts with the Aarhus Jazz Orchestra (formerly the Klüvers Big Band), from May 20-25, at Portalen in Greve, Godset in Kolding, Fermaten in Herning, Det Musiske Hus in Frederikshavn, and Atlas in Aarhus, Denmark.
Kurt closes May with a concert on May 28 with the Bulgarian National Radio Big Band at the National Palace of Culture in Sofia, Bulgaria.
On June 6, the Kurt Elling Quintet performs at The Sheldon Concert Hall in St. Louis, MO in a concert to benefit the Sheldon Art Galleries.
Details and links for tickets are below in APRIL-JUNE Gigs and on Kurt's Touring page, where you'll find all his confirmed concerts into May 2015. Come on out wherever and whenever you can for an evening of great jazz!
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April is Jazz Appreciation Month!This month marks the thirteenth observance of Jazz Appreciation Month (JAM). The National Museum of American History at the Smithsonian Institution launched JAM in 2001.This year's JAM theme is Jazz Alchemy: A Love Supreme, to pay tribute to John Coltrane and the 50th anniversary of his masterpiece, A Love Supreme.The Smithsonian proclaimed: Music inspires personal meaning and sometimes is a catalyst for transformation. A Love Supreme is John Coltrane's musical hymn about the transformation that faith and music sparked in his life.
Recorded in December of 1964, A Love Supreme is Coltrane's musical declaration of spirituality and faith in a loving God who supported him through drug addiction and other human failures. While drug, alcohol dependence, and other life challenges may have temporarily stolen Coltrane's peace, it did not capture Coltrane's creative genius. Instead Coltrane transmuted human suffering into a hymn - composing a four-part suite that is legendary in the jazz canon for a "unique chemistry" that many performers and hearers acknowledge can be felt but rarely put into words. The original A Love Supreme music score will be on exhibition in "American Stories" at the National Musem of American History from March 14 through June 17, 2014. A specially created image of Coltrane by artist Joseph Holston graces the 2014 JAM poster (see Short Takes below).Last week Ravi Coltrane donated one of his father's three principal tenor saxophones to the Smithsonian.  Jazz photographer Chuck Stewart photographed the 1964 recording session for A Love Supreme at Rudy Van Gelder's studio in Englewood, New Jersey. Recently, Stewart's son was looking through the archives and discovered six rolls of undeveloped film from 1964. Stewart donated 25 images of John Coltrane and Alice Coltrane to the National Museum of American History, including some of the newly unearthed shots.On NPR's A Blog Supreme, you can read more about those photographs and see a slide show of three of them, plus two images of Coltrane's music score and personal notes for A Love Supreme, and a photo of his donated saxophone. You can also see larger images of Coltrane's handwritten score and personal notes here. The score includes Coltrane's note "All paths lead to God."John Coltrane's A Love Supreme has four parts - Acknowledgement, Resolution, Pursuance, and Psalms. Kurt wrote an astounding vocalese lyric for Resolution, the second part of Coltrane's A Love Supreme. He first recorded it in 2000 on Live in Chicago Out Takes and then again in 2003 on Man In The Air.
Imagine transcribing Trane's solo on Resolution, committing it to memory, writing a poetic lyric to fit its contours that also honors Coltrane's vision in A Love Supreme, and then performing it live. This is one of Kurt's lyric masterpieces and a live performance tour de force.
Kurt comments, "I am proud to have a very small association with John Coltrane's masterpiece. I hope that what I have done has been a credit to the music and to some real version of Trane's vision. I am grateful to Alice Coltrane and the Coltrane family for their kind endorsement of my work. Of course, the real credit and the real vision belongs to Trane and Trane alone."
 In a 2003 interview on NPR, Kurt commented further on Trane's vision:
"I did take inspiration from the universalist intention that I read in Trane's writing about and speaking about A Love Supreme. That it was not limited to one named deity or another. It was clearly beyond ecclesiastical category, and that was the impetus for my writing the opening section where I name the different deities and have a short prayer that is suitable for each one.
"Trane had in mind a universalist all-encompassing possibility of a divine essence beyond category, beyond a name, and ultimately that's really all we have.
We have each other to hold on to, we have the world that we've been given, and we have a certain intuition that something transcendent is happening, but we can't put a final wrapper on it and control it and say it means this."
In 2008, jazz writer and NEA Jazz Master Nat Hentoff recalled, "In one of my conversations with Coltrane he said he was searching for the sounds of what Buddhists call 'Om,' which he described as the universal essence of all of us in the universe."
Now watch Kurt perform Resolution with the Scottish National Jazz Orchestra, directed by Tommy Smith, in a terrific arrangement by Bob Mintzer.
 Resolution - Scottish National Jazz Orchestra, featuring Kurt Elling |
Kurt's lyric for Resolution is here so you can follow along as you watch and listen.
For more on Coltrane's A Love Supreme, Kurt's vocalese lyric, the St. John Coltrane African Orthodox Church, and other related material, please see this topic in Kurt's fan Forum.
Coltrane remarked, "When you're playing with someone who really has something to say, even though they may otherwise be quite different in style, there's one thing that remains constant. And that is the tension of the experience, that electricity, that kind of feeling that is a lift kind of feeling. No matter where it happens, you know when that feeling comes upon you, and it makes you feel happy."
May #JazzApril find you happy and uplifted this year!
#JAM
#JazzApril
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International Jazz Day
April 30, 2014
 In 2011 UNESCO declared April 30 International Jazz Day.This year Osaka, Japan is the global host city for this UNESCO-sponsored event, chaired and led by Irina Bokova, UNESCO Director-General, and legendary pianist and composer Herbie Hancock, who serves as a UNESCO Ambassador for Intercultural Dialogue and as Chairman of the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz. The 2014 All-Star Global Concert will be webcast live from Osaka at 7:00 pm JST on April 30 & these times worldwide:
New York 6:00 am | London 11:00 am | Istanbul 1:00 pm
Tokyo 7:00 pm | Sydney 8:00 pm
The All-Star Global Concert video will also be available on the web four hours after the concert ends for your viewing pleasure.
#JazzDay
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The Jazz Journalists Association (JJA) presents its annual Jazz Awards in 41 categories in 2014, and once again Kurt has been nominated for Male Singer of the Year!
Kurt received the JJA top honor in 2012, his eighth win since 2000. Other 2014 nominees in this category are Andy Bey and Gregory Porter.
Winners of the 2014 JJA Jazz Awards in all categories will be determined by the votes of JJA Professional Journalist Members.
Winners in the 32 musical categories will be announced on the Jazz Awards website on April 15, and winners in the media categories will be announced at the Jazz Media Awards party at the Blue Note in New York City on June 11.
The full list of nominees is here.
In 2013, the JJA initiated JazzApril, a media project in support of Jazz Appreciation Month (April) and International Jazz Day (April 30). By participating, musicians, journalists and other media makers, businesses and organizations and educators can help spread the word about the social and cultural importance of jazz (and make it clear jazz is fun, too!)The JJA is a 26-year-old non-profit professional organization of writers, photographers, broadcasters, new media producers and journalistic supporters interested in jazz coverage in print, over-the-airways and/or online. JJA Industry Associate members are musicians and educators who work in the music, music promotion and publishing industries or allied fields. The Jazz Awards have been given annually since 1997.
Congratulations and best of luck to all the nominees! #jjajazzawards
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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,
fan Forum,
and other surprises.
Come visit us often!
Newsletter signup
Newsletter archive
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 Short Takes
According to the Westword Blog, Kurt is one of the 10 Best Male Jazz Vocalists of All Time! He's joined by these greats: Jon Hendricks, Louis Armstrong, Joe Williams, Billy Eckstine, Johnny Hartman, Cab Calloway, Mark Murphy, Jimmy Scott, & Mose Allison. Who's on your 10 Best list?
Last month Kurt was Doug Dirks' guest on CBC Radio Calgary's The Homestretch. Check out his informative 6:04 interview here. Click in the middle of the player to start it.
Earth Day is April 22. Kurt's travel is climate-friendly. He buys carbon offsets from Carbon Fund to reduce the carbon footprint from his air travel on tours. Reduce what you can - offset what you can't. #ClimateAction
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| APRIL-JUNE Gigs |
April 5, 2014Kurt Elling with the American Metropole Orchestra Rice Auditorium Western Oregon University 345 N Monmouth Ave Monmouth, ORMay 2, 2014 BBC Radio 2 - Friday Night is Music Night Hoods, Horns & Hooch Guy Barker Big Band & the BBC Concert Orchestra With special guests Kurt Elling, Curtis Stigers, and Liane Carroll Cheltenham Jazz Festival Big Top - Montpellier Gardens Cheltenham GL50 1UW ENGLANDLive broadcast on BBC Radio 2 at 8:00 pm UTCMay 3, 2014Kurt Elling Quintet Passion World Cheltenham Jazz Festival Cheltenham Town Hall Imperial Square Cheltenham GL50 1UW ENGLANDMay 9, 2014Kurt Elling Quintet Festival de musique de chambre de Montréal St. George's Anglican Church 1101 Stanley Rue Montréal, QC H3B 2S6 CANADAMay 10, 2014Kurt Elling Quintet Denzal Sinclaire Koerner Hall TELUS Centre for Performance & Learning The Royal Conservatory 273 Bloor St West Toronto, ON M5S 1W2 CANADAMay 15, 2014 Dancing in the Street From the United States to South Africa: Songs on the Road to Freedom Chicago Children's Choir With special guest Kurt Elling Harris Street Theatre for Music + Dance at Millennium Park 205 E Randolph St Chicago, ILSpecial discount for Kurt's fans!
Use promo code CCCKURT to save 10% on all tickets.May 20, 2014 Kurt Elling with the Aarhus Jazz Orchestra PortalenPortalen 12670 GreveDENMARKMay 21, 2014Kurt Elling with the Aarhus Jazz Orchestra GodsetJens Holms Vej 56000 KoldingDENMARKMay 23, 2014Kurt Elling with the Aarhus Jazz Orchestra FermatenSmallegade 47400 HerningDENMARKMay 24, 2014 Kurt Elling with the Aarhus Jazz Orchestra Det Musiske HusRådhus Alle 98 9900 Frederikshavn DENMARKMay 25, 2014Kurt Elling with the Aarhus Jazz Orchestra AtlasVester Allé 158000 Aarhus C DENMARK
May 28, 2014
Kurt Elling with the Bulgarian National Radio Big Band National Palace of Culture Bulgaria Square No. 1 Sofia Center Sofia 1463
All of Kurt's upcoming gigs in 2014 and into 2015 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 about 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 . . .
This, I think is our greatest
and most humane task:
to show compassion to one another;
to remember and recognize
the divine light residing in each one of us.
To evolve as a species
by lifting up all beings.
To begin in gentleness
and peace within ourselves -
reconciled to our humility
in this life
and also stepping boldly
and creatively toward our birthright:
divine, transcendent identities.
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Japan's beautiful Osaka Castle Park will host 
