Kurt Elling (born November 2, 1967) is an American

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a m ...

singer and songwriter. Born in

Chicago, Illinois (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

, and raised in Rockford, Elling became interested in music through his father, who was Kapellmeister at a Lutheran church. He sang in choirs and played musical instruments. He encountered jazz while a student at Gustavus Adolphus College in Minnesota. After college, he enrolled in the

University of Chicago Divinity School The University of Chicago Divinity School is a private graduate institution at the University of Chicago dedicated to the training of academics and clergy across religious boundaries. Formed under Baptist auspices, the school today lacks any s ...

, but he left one credit short of a degree to pursue a career as a jazz vocalist. Elling began to perform around Chicago,

scat singing In vocal jazz, scat singing is vocal improvisation with wordless vocables, nonsense syllables or without words at all. In scat singing, the singer improvises melodies and rhythms using the voice as an instrument rather than a speaking medium. ...

and improvising his lyrics. He recorded a demo in the early 1990s and was signed by

Blue Note In jazz and blues, a blue note is a note that—for expressive purposes—is sung or played at a slightly different pitch from standard. Typically the alteration is between a quartertone and a semitone, but this varies depending on the musical c ...

. He has been nominated for ten Grammy Awards, winning Best Vocal Jazz Album for '' Dedicated to You'' (2009) and '' Secrets Are the Best Stories ''(2021). Elling often leads the ''

Down Beat ' (styled in all caps) is an American music magazine devoted to "jazz, blues and beyond", the last word indicating its expansion beyond the jazz realm which it covered exclusively in previous years. The publication was established in 1934 in Chi ...

'' magazine Critics' Poll. He had a longtime collaboration with pianist Laurence Hobgood, leading a quartet that toured throughout the world.

Early life

Kurt Elling was born in Chicago, Illinois on November 2, 1967, the son of Henry and Martha Elling. His interest in music started with his father, who was Kapellmeister at a Lutheran church. See also: Elling attended elementary school at St. Paul Lutheran School in Rockford, and throughout his early years, he sang in choirs and played violin, French horn, piano, and drums. During his middle school years, Elling remembers watching

Tony Bennett Anthony Dominick Benedetto (born August 3, 1926), known professionally as Tony Bennett, is an American retired singer of traditional pop standards, big band, show tunes, and jazz. Bennett is also a painter, having created works under his birt ...

and the

Woody Herman Woodrow Charles Herman (May 16, 1913 – October 29, 1987) was an American jazz clarinetist, saxophonist, singer, and big band leader. Leading groups called "The Herd", Herman came to prominence in the late 1930s and was active until his dea ...

band on television and imagining what it would be like to sing with a band. Growing up, Elling sang in the classical style, learning counterpoint from the motets of

Johann Sebastian Bach Johann Sebastian Bach (28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque period. He is known for his orchestral music such as the '' Brandenburg Concertos''; instrumental compositions such as the Cello Suites; keyboard wo ...

. At Rockford Lutheran High School, in Rockford, Illinois, Elling continued to sing in the choir: "When it was undeniably uncool and geeky and all that, to be the choir, I did it anyway, because it was reliably beautiful, and it was rewarding, and it gave me gifts of experience and friendships." One of these experiences was that of singing the

National Anthem A national anthem is a patriotic musical composition symbolizing and evoking eulogies of the history and traditions of a country or nation. The majority of national anthems are marches or hymns in style. American, Central Asian, and Europea ...

with the high school madrigal choir, "Joyful Sounds" under the direction of Joyce Kortze in front of his first large crowd of over 40,000 people. Green Mill Cocktail Lounge

Elling attended Gustavus Adolphus College in St. Peter, Minnesota, where he majored in history and minored in religion. In college, Elling sang in the 70-voice Gustavus Choir, an a cappella choir that performed works from a variety of different composers, allowing him to hone his technical skills. Elling also toured Europe with his college choir. He became interested in jazz at Gustavus Adolphus while listening to Dave Brubeck,

Dexter Gordon Dexter Gordon (February 27, 1923 – April 25, 1990) was an American jazz tenor saxophonist, composer, bandleader, and actor. He was among the most influential early bebop musicians, which included other greats such as Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gi ...

, Herbie Hancock, and

Ella Fitzgerald Ella Jane Fitzgerald (April 25, 1917June 15, 1996) was an American jazz singer, sometimes referred to as the "First Lady of Song", "Queen of Jazz", and "Lady Ella". She was noted for her purity of tone, impeccable diction, phrasing, timing, in ...

. After graduating from Gustavus Adolphus in 1989, Elling enrolled in graduate school at the

where he studied for his master's degree in

philosophy of religion Philosophy of religion is "the philosophical examination of the central themes and concepts involved in religious traditions". Philosophical discussions on such topics date from ancient times, and appear in the earliest known texts concerning ph ...

. He thought about continuing work in academia or working for the

World Council of Churches The World Council of Churches (WCC) is a worldwide Christian inter-church organization founded in 1948 to work for the cause of ecumenism. Its full members today include the Assyrian Church of the East, the Oriental Orthodox Churches, most ju ...

when he graduated. He began playing jazz gigs once a week during graduate school, with one of his first shows at Milt Trenier's, a basement club in Chicago (now defunct). He earned little money at these gigs, but Karl Johnson, the house pianist, was his mentor and teacher. Elling recalls, "By day I was reading Kant and Schleiermacher, trying to get a handle on that, and at night I was sitting-in in clubs, and, of course, you can't do both and be effective. Eventually Saturday night won out over Sunday morning." He remained a graduate student until January 1992, when he left school one credit short of graduation. In Chicago, Elling worked as a bartender and as a mover. He sang at weddings in addition to clubs. At this time, he began singing in a scat style and improvising his own lyrics. Elling began listening to the vocalese of jazz singer Mark Murphy, who exposed him to the poetry of Jack Kerouac. The minimalism and emotion of Chet Baker's music was also influential.

Career

While living in Chicago in 1995, Elling decided he was ready to record. He had met pianist Laurence Hobgood through Ed Petersen, who played the Green Mill on Monday nights. Elling convinced Hobgood that he was ready to go into the studio, and they came out with nine solid songs. Following the advice of pianist Fred Simon, the cassette recording was sent to Bill Traut, a manager in Los Angeles, who eventually gave it to Bruce Lundvall of

. In 1995, Elling signed with Blue Note, and the songs on the demo became the Grammy nominated label debut, '' Close Your Eyes'' (1995). The album features Edward Petersen and

Von Freeman Earle Lavon "Von" Freeman Sr. (October 3, 1923 – August 11, 2012) was an American hard bop jazz tenor saxophonist. Biography Born in Chicago, Illinois, Freeman as a young child was exposed to jazz. His father, George, a city policeman, was a ...

on tenor saxophone, Dave Onderdonk on guitar, Laurence Hobgood on piano, Eric Hochberg and Rob Amster on double bass, and

Paul Wertico Paul Wertico (born January 5, 1953 in Chicago, Illinois) is an American drummer. He gained recognition as a member of the Pat Metheny Group from 1983 until 2001, leaving the group to spend more time with his family and to pursue other musical int ...

on drums. ''Close Your Eyes'' was followed by '' The Messenger'' (1997). Kurt Elling2

In 2006, Elling performed on the television program '' Legends of Jazz'', in the episode "The Jazz Singers". Elling sang "She's Funny That Way" and performed a duet with Al Jarreau on "

Take Five "Take Five" is a jazz standard composed by saxophonist Paul Desmond and originally recorded by the Dave Brubeck Quartet for their album ''Time Out'' at Columbia Records' 30th Street Studios in New York City on July 1, 1959. Two years later it b ...

". The recording was released on CD and DVD. In August of the same year, Elling signed a contract with

Concord Jazz Concord Jazz is a record company and label founded in 1973 by Carl Jefferson, the former owner of Jefferson Motors Lincoln Mercury dealership in Concord, California. The label was named after the city in the East San Francisco Bay area, and the j ...

, and his first album with the label, '' Nightmoves'', was released in 2007. The follow-up, '' Dedicated to You: Kurt Elling Sings the Music of Coltrane and Hartman'' (2009), is a tribute to the 1963 recording '' John Coltrane and Johnny Hartman'', widely recognized as one of the all-time finest jazz vocal albums. The album arose out of a 2005 concert commissioned by the Chicago Jazz Festival, showcasing the Coltrane-Hartman material. Later, Elling and pianist Laurence Hobgood rearranged the music, culminating in a performance in the Allen Room at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in New York. The concert was recorded in January 2009 and the album was released in June. Elling is a baritone with a four-octave range, and a writer and performer of

vocalese Vocalese is a style of jazz singing in which words are added to an instrumental soloist's improvisation. Definition Vocalese uses recognizable lyrics that are sung to pre-existing instrumental solos, as opposed to scat singing, which uses nonsen ...

, writing and performing words over improvised jazz solos. In 2007 and 2012, Circumstantial Productions published two editions of ''Lyrics: Kurt Elling'', collections of Elling's vocalese lyrics edited by Richard Connolly. In 1999, Elling became a National Trustee for the

National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences The Recording Academy (formally the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences; abbreviated NARAS) is an American learned academy of musicians, producers, recording engineers, and other musical professionals. It is famous for its Grammy Aw ...

, and in 2003 he was elected vice-chair and served two terms.

Collaborators

Elling has performed and recorded with

David Amram David Werner Amram III (born November 17, 1930) is an American composer, arranger, and conductor of orchestral, chamber, and choral works, many with jazz flavorings.

Randy Bachman Randolph Charles Bachman (; born September 27, 1943) is a Canadian guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He was a founding member of the bands The Guess Who and Bachman–Turner Overdrive. Bachman recorded as a solo artist and was part of a num ...

, Bob Belden,

Joanne Brackeen Joanne Brackeen (born Joanne Grogan; July 26, 1938) is an American jazz pianist and music educator. Music career Brackeen was born in Ventura, California, United States, and attended the Los Angeles Conservatory of Music. She was a fan of pop pi ...

, Oscar Brown Jr.,

Jodie Christian Jodie Christian (February 2, 1932 – February 13, 2012)
- accessed February 14, 2012 was an American jazz pianist, n ...

, Billy Corgan, Orbert Davis, George Freeman,

Buddy Guy George "Buddy" Guy (born July 30, 1936) is an American blues guitarist and singer. He is an exponent of Chicago blues who has influenced generations of guitarists including Eric Clapton, Jimi Hendrix, Jimmy Page, Keith Richards, Stevie Ray Vaugh ...

Jon Hendricks John Carl Hendricks (September 16, 1921 – November 22, 2017), known professionally as Jon Hendricks, was an American jazz lyricist and singer. He is one of the originators of vocalese, which adds lyrics to existing instrumental songs and re ...

Charlie Hunter Charlie Hunter (born May 23, 1967) is an American guitarist, composer, and bandleader. First coming to prominence in the early 1990s, Hunter plays custom-made seven- and eight-string guitars on which he simultaneously plays bass lines, chords, a ...

, Bob Mintzer,

Brad Mehldau Bradford Alexander Mehldau (; born August 23, 1970) is an American jazz pianist, composer, and arranger. Mehldau studied music at The New School, and toured and recorded while still a student. He was a member of saxophonist Joshua Redman's Qua ...

, Lee Ritenour,

John Pizzarelli John Paul Pizzarelli Jr. (born April 6, 1960, in Paterson, New Jersey) is an American jazz guitarist and vocalist. He has recorded over twenty solo albums and has appeared on more than forty albums by other recording artists, including Paul McCa ...

, and Bob Sheppard. Until November 2013, Elling's band included musical director Laurence Hobgood on piano, John McLean on guitar, Clark Sommers on bass, and drummer Kendrick Scott. Howard Reich's wrote in his November 6, 2013 column "My kind of Jazz" in the ''Chicago Tribune'', that Elling and Hobgood would be going separate ways. Hobgood linked to that article from his website. Elling's website announced the change on November 12, 2013. The band included a rotating series of pianists until October 2015 when Gary Versace became Kurt Elling's first-call pianist and was added to the Band page on Elling's website. Then in August 2016, Stu Mindeman took over as piano chair and Versace's page was moved to Extended Family. In 2016 he was a member of Branford Marsalis's quartet. He toured with the band and performed on the album ''Upward Spiral'', which was nominated for a Grammy Award. Marsalis co-produced Elling's album ''

The Questions The Questions were a Scottish pop band, active during the late 1970s and early 1980s. History They formed in the summer of 1977 at St. Augustine's High School in Edinburgh, and performed their first gig in December of that year at St. Marga ...

'' and performed on three songs.

Personal life

In 1996, Elling married dancer Jennifer Carney. Their daughter Luiza was born in 2005. In the same year, the Ellings purchased a condominium from

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the ...

Hyde Park, Chicago Hyde Park is the 41st of the 77 community areas of Chicago. It is located on the South Side, near the shore of Lake Michigan south of the Loop. Hyde Park's official boundaries are 51st Street/Hyde Park Boulevard on the north, the Midway Pl ...

. The Ellings moved to New York in 2008.

Discography

Kurt Elling at the North Sea Jazz Festival 2015 (cropped)

As leader

* ''Coming of Age'' (Self Adhesive Records, 1991) * '' Close Your Eyes'' (

, 1995) * '' The Messenger'' (Blue Note, 1997) * '' This Time It's Love'' (Blue Note, 1998) * '' Live in Chicago'' (Blue Note, 2000) * '' Flirting with Twilight'' (Blue Note, 2001) * '' Man in the Air'' (Blue Note, 2003) * '' Nightmoves'' (

, 2007) * '' Dedicated to You: Kurt Elling Sings the Music of Coltrane and Hartman'' (Concord, 2009) * '' The Gate'' (Concord, 2011) * '' 1619 Broadway – The Brill Building Project'' (Concord, 2012) * ''Passion World'' (Concord, 2015) * ''The Beautiful Day: Kurt Elling Sings Christmas'' (

Okeh Okeh Records () is an American record label founded by the Otto Heinemann Phonograph Corporation, a phonograph supplier established in 1916, which branched out into phonograph records in 1918. The name was spelled "OkeH" from the initials of Ott ...

, 2016) * ''

'' (Okeh, 2018) * ''Secrets Are the Best Stories'' ( Edition, 2020) * ''SuperBlue'' ( Edition, 2021)

As guest

With Laurence Hobgood * ''Left to My Own Devices'' (2000) * ''Crazy World'' (Naim, 2005) * ''When the Heart Dances'' (Naim, 2009) With Bob Mintzer * ''Live at MCG'' (2004) * ''Old School, New Lessons'' (2006) * ''Swing Out'' (2008) With others * Bob Belden – ''Shades of Blue'' (Blue Note, 1996) * The Manhattan Transfer – ''Swing'' (Atlantic, 1997) *

Yellowjackets A yellowjacket is a black-and-yellow vespid wasp. Yellowjacket(s) or Yellow Jacket(s) may also refer to: Places * Yellow Jacket, Colorado, an unincorporated town * Yellow Jacket, Florida, an unincorporated area in Dixie County, Florida Arts, e ...

– ''

Club Nocturne ''Club Nocturne'' (1998) is the 13th studio album (14th overall) from the jazz group Yellowjackets, and their sixth and final release for the Warner Bros. label. The album was nominated for "Best Contemporary Jazz Album" Grammy Award. The album ...

'' (1998) *

– ''

Pink Elephant Magic ''Pink Elephant Magic'' is an album by American pianist Joanne Brackeen recorded in 1998 and released on the Arkadia Jazz label.Charlie Hunter Charlie Hunter (born May 23, 1967) is an American guitarist, composer, and bandleader. First coming to prominence in the early 1990s, Hunter plays custom-made seven- and eight-string guitars on which he simultaneously plays bass lines, chords, a ...

– ''Songs from the Analog Playground'' (2001) * George Freeman – ''At Long Last George'' (2001) * Jackie Allen – ''The Men in My Life'' (2003) * Jon Weber – ''Simple Complex'' (2004) * Fred Hersch – ''Leaves of Grass'' (2005) *

Till Brönner Till Brönner (born 6 May 1971 in Viersen, West Germany) is a jazz musician, trumpeter, flügelhorn player, singer, composer, producer and photographer. History From 1989–1991, Brönner was a member of the Peter Herbolzheimer Rhythm Combin ...

– ''Rio'' (2008) *

– '' Rockin' in Rhythm: A Tribute to Duke Ellington'' (2010) * The Claudia Quintet – ''What Is the Beautiful?'' (Cuneiform, 2011) * Lee Ritenour – ''Rhythm Sessions'' (Concord, 2012) * Kate McGarry – ''Girl Talk'' (2012) *

Aki Yashiro , real name Akiyo Masuda (増田明代 ''Masuda Akiyo'') (born Akiyo Hashimoto (橋本明代 ''Hashimoto Akiyo'') on August 29, 1950), is a Japanese enka singer and painter. Her stage name "Yashiro" is adopted from her hometown, "Yatsushiro" (� ...

– ''Live in New York'' (2013) * Renee Fleming – ''Christmas in New York'' (2014) *

Harold Mabern Harold Mabern Jr. (March 20, 1936 – September 17, 2019) was an American jazz pianist and composer, principally in the hard bop, post-bop, and soul jazz fields.Feather, Leonard; Gitler, Ira (2007) ''The Biographical Encyclopedia of Jazz''. p. 4 ...

– ''

Afro Blue "Afro Blue" is a jazz standard composed by Mongo Santamaría. Santamaria version Mongo Santamaria recorded his composition "Afro Blue" in 1959 when playing with the Cal Tjader Sextet. The first recorded performance was on April 20, 1959, at th ...

'' (Smoke Sessions, 2015) * Branford Marsalis – ''

Upward Spiral Upward Spiral is a term used by Paul Kennedy in his book ''The Rise and Fall of Great Powers'' to describe the continually rising cost of military equipment relative to civilian manufactured goods. According to Kennedy there is an upward spiral at ...

'' (Marsalis Music/Okeh, 2016) *

– ''

Finding Gabriel ''Finding Gabriel'' is an album by Brad Mehldau. It was recorded over an 18-month period in 2017–18 and was released by Nonesuch Records in 2019. It won the 2019 Grammy Award for Best Jazz Instrumental Album. Background Mehldau wrote that "''F ...

'' (Nonesuch, 2019)

Awards and nominations

Elling has won the ''

'' Critics Poll thirteen times, from 2000–2012, and the

Readers Poll seven times and the ''

JazzTimes ''JazzTimes'' is an American magazine devoted to jazz. Published 10 times a year, it was founded in Washington, D.C. in 1970 by Ira Sabin as the newsletter ''Radio Free Jazz'' to complement his record store. Coverage After a decade of growt ...

'' Readers' Poll eight times, all in the Male Vocalist of the Year category. He has also received the

Jazz Journalists Association The Jazz Journalists Association (JJA) is an international organization of all types of media professionals who document, promulgate, or appreciate jazz. As of 2016, it has approximately 250 members, including professional journalists, students, ind ...

Male Singer of the Year award eight times. In 2010 he was awarded the Edison/Jazz World award for '' The Gate''. The Edison is the Dutch equivalent of a Grammy. In 2012 he was honored as the first Jazz Ambassador at the Silesian Jazz Festival in Poland, and he also won the German

Echo Jazz The Echo Jazz (stylized as ECHO JAZZ) was a German music prize, an Echo Music Prize for personalities and production of jazz. It was awarded annually by the between 2010 and 2018. The awards had been given in 30 categories, including ensemble of ...

award and the Scottish Jazz Award – International category. In 2013 he was named International Jazz Artist of the Year in the Jazz FM Awards (UK).

Grammy Awards

The

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pr ...

s are awarded annually by the

of the United States. On January 31, 2010, Elling won his first Grammy Award in the category of Best Jazz Vocal Album for the album '' Dedicated to You: Kurt Elling Sings the Music of Coltrane and Hartman'' on the Concord Jazz label. , - , , 1995 , '' Close Your Eyes'' , Best Jazz Vocal Performance , , - , , 1997 , '' The Messenger'' , Best Jazz Vocal Performance , , - , , 1998 , '' This Time it's Love'' , Best Jazz Vocal Performance , , - , , 2000 , '' Live in Chicago'' , Best Jazz Vocal Album , , - , rowspan="2", 2001 , '' Flirting with Twilight'' , Best Jazz Vocal Album , , - , "Easy Living" , Best Instrumental Arrangement Accompanying a Vocalist , , - , , 2003 , '' Man in the Air'' , Best Jazz Vocal Album , , - , , 2007 , '' Nightmoves'' , Best Jazz Vocal Album , , - , , 2009 , '' Dedicated to You'' , Best Jazz Vocal Album , , - , , 2012 , '' The Gate'' , Best Jazz Vocal Album , , - , , 2013 , '' 1619 Broadway – The Brill Building Project'' , Best Jazz Vocal Album , , - , 2016 , ''Upward Spiral'' , Best Jazz Vocal Album , , - , 2021 , ''Secrets are the Best Stories'' (featuring Danilo Pérez) , Best Jazz Vocal Album , , - , 2022 , ''SuperBlue'' , Best Jazz Vocal Album ,

Publications

* *

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Elling, Kurt 1967 births American jazz singers Gustavus Adolphus College alumni Living people Okeh Records artists Concord Records artists Blue Note Records artists Grammy Award winners Vocalese singers Singers from Chicago Musicians from Rockford, Illinois American baritones University of Chicago Divinity School alumni Jazz musicians from Illinois American male jazz musicians Edition Records artists

Early life

Career

Collaborators

Personal life

Discography

As leader

As guest

Awards and nominations

Grammy Awards

Publications

References

Further reading

External links