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Kurt Elling
The standout male jazz vocalist of our time ~ The New York Times
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December 2014: Celebrate the winter holy days with jazz
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In the dark of winter
we celebrate the Light!
The Light shines in the darkness,
and the darkness has not overcome it.
Kurt exclaims,
Bless Everything! To both sides. To all sides. To all beings and things. 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 8th. Buddha means "Awakened One."
In the Jewish tradition, Hanukkah, which celebrates the triumph of light over darkness, begins at sunset on December 16th and ends at nightfall on December 24th.
In the northern hemisphere, the Light returns at the Winter Solstice, December 21st at 11:03 pm UTC/GMT.
Christmas is December 25th, and the twelve days of Christmas end on Epiphany, January 6th.
So in this holy season, find the spark deep within, make a joyful noise, and celebrate the Light.
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Christmas TV special
December 4, 2014
9:30-10:30 pm
Renée Fleming - Christmas in NY
PBS television stations (check local listings for broadcasts in December)
Kurt Elling is one of the guests on
Renée Fleming's Christmas special on PBS, along with Kelli O'Hara, Gregory Porter, Rufus Wainwright, and Renée's daughters Sage & Amelia, and her sister Rachelle. The show features intimate performances of songs from Christmas in New York and favorite carols.
Christmas concerts
December 10, 2014
Kurt Elling with the
Jazz Orchestra of the Concertgebouw
Conducted by Dennis Mackrel
Concertgebouwplein 10
1071 LN Amsterdam
NETHERLANDS
December 11, 2014
Kurt Elling with the
Jazz Orchestra of the Concertgebouw
Conducted by Dennis Mackrel
Laan der Verenigde Naties 150
6716 JE Ede
NETHERLANDS
December 12, 2014
Kurt Elling with the
Jazz Orchestra of the Concertgebouw
Conducted by Dennis Mackrel
Jan van Lieshoutstraat 3
5600 AX Eindhoven
NETHERLANDS
December 13, 2014
Kurt Elling with the
Jazz Orchestra of the Concertgebouw
Conducted by Dennis Mackrel
Schouwburgplein 50
3012 CL Rotterdam
NETHERLANDS
Watch them perform Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer here.
Kurt's 2015 concert schedule is on the Touring page of his website.
That's where you'll always find the most current information. Check there often, as new dates are always being added.
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Make a joyful noise
Renée Fleming's first-ever holiday recording, Christmas in New York, features holiday evergreens and nostalgic favorites in fresh arrangements. She's joined by a stellar list of guests from jazz, Broadway, & pop, including Kurt Elling, Wynton Marsalis, Brad Mehldau, Gregory Porter, Chris Botti, Kelli O'Hara, and Rufus Wainwright.
Kurt comments, "Working with Renée Fleming was a real joy for me. I think you will all agree that that Renee has had a definitive role in the life of beauty in the first part of this century. Her work in operas, in recitals and concerts has justifiably enthralled millions. Being a small part of her journey as a singing artist as she finds her way in alternate genres has been an honor."
Kurt also guest stars on Renée's television special, Christmas in New York, which airs on PBS stations throughout December, with the premiere broadcast on December 4 from 9:30-10:30 pm EST (check local listings).
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Saxophonist Jimmy Greene's
Beautiful Life is a celebration of the life of his 6-year-old daughter, Ana Márquez-Greene,
whose life was tragically taken on December 14, 2012, along with 19 other children and 6 educators, at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut.
In a penetrating, heartbreaking, and graceful interpretation, Kurt Elling performs Ana's Way, written by Jimmy Greene, along with the Linden Christian School Early Years Choir, comprised of Ana's & her brother Isaiah's former classmates.
"Many people have asked what they can do to help, and this is my answer," Greene says. "Let's remember what happened at Sandy Hook. We can each hold up our end of the bargain, which is to somehow learn to love ourselves, and then see past ourselves and love our neighbor. That's pretty simple, but if we all did it, I think our existence would be different."
Listen to Jimmy Greene talk about Beautiful Life on NPR's All Things Considered.
A portion of the proceeds from Beautiful Life will be donated to:
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Laurence Hobgood's Christmas is a beautiful recording of music for the season, with Laurence playing solo piano, and he duets with himself, too.
In Music for a Cool Yule (2014), jazz writer Thomas Cunniffe notes, "Most jazz musicians won't even consider setting "O Holy Night," owing to its inherent pomposity and its unwieldy structure. However by emphasizing the arching melody and letting the phrases breathe, Hobgood turns this old warhorse into a tender paean to the newborn Jesus.
Another Christmas song rarely performed as an instrumental, "The Twelve Days of Christmas," gets a wry reading in Hobgood's hands, with the pianist maneuvering in to all 12 keys in the course of the performance."
Order for the holidays from Circumstantial Productions.
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 Do you hear what I hear?
Hip musical gifts from Kurt to delight you!
Listen: Cool Yule from Yule Be Boppin'(Blue Note,1997), the Steve Allen classic first recorded by Louis Armstrong in 1953
Listen: The New Year's Eve Song, a lovely song written by Patricia Barber, performed by Kurt, Patricia, and Jim Gailloreto on tenor saxophone
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Check out Kurt's 2015 concert schedule
on his
is chock full of music, lyrics, audios, videos, photos, projects, scripts, writing, a fan Forum, and
Come visit us often!
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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.
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