KURT ELLING
(Booking in North America)
PROJECTS:
Kurt Elling (Solo):
Kurt is available for appearances as a guest vocalist with big band or symphonic orchestras. He has guested with many of worlds most finest ensembles such as the Grant Park Symphony, Sydney Symphony, Metropole Orkest, & WDR Big Band.
Kurt Elling Celebrates Weather Report (Quintet + Special Guests)
2x GRAMMY winning vocalist Kurt Elling reimagines vocal versions of songs written and performed by members one of jazz history’s most influential ensembles. Special guests may include former Weather Report musicians.
SuperBlue: Kurt Elling & Charlie Hunter
GRAMMY Award-winning Jazz vocalist Kurt Elling and hybrid guitarist Charlie Hunter combine for a jazz / groove collaboration full of new songs, surprising covers, and dynamic reinventions.
TOUR:
2024 - Available upon request
2025 - Available upon request
NEW ALBUM:
SUPERBLUE 2: THE IRIDESCENT SPREE RELEASING SEPTEMBER 15, 2023, ON EDITION RECORDS.
about KURT:
Renowned for his singular combination of robust swing and poetic insight, two-time GRAMMY winner Kurt Elling has secured his place among the world’s foremost jazz vocalists. The New York Times proclaimed Elling, “the standout male vocalist of our time”. Over a twenty-five year career of touring and recording, Elling has won three Prix du Jazz Vocal (France), two German Echo Awards, two Dutch Edison Awards, and has been nominated for a GRAMMY award fifteen times. He has had a 14-year run atop the DownBeat Critics and Readers polls, and has won twelve Jazz Journalists Awards for “Male Vocalist of the Year”.
Kurt Elling’s voice is instantly recognizable, embracing listeners with his warm, rich baritone and navigating the full span of his four-octave range as a virtuoso improvisor and a compelling storyteller. The Guardian (UK) has named Kurt Elling, “a kind of Sinatra with superpowers,” and, “one of jazz’s all-time great vocalists.”
Elling has recorded and toured with Branford Marsalis, Danilo Perez, Stefon Harris, Fred Hersch, James Morrison, and Charlie Hunter. He has performed extensively with larger ensembles like The Clayton/Hamilton Orchestra, The National Youth Orchestra (led by Sean Jones), The Bob Mintzer Big Band, The BBC Concert Symphony (led by Guy Barker) The Metropole Orchestra (Holland), The Irish Radio and Television Orchestra (led by Brian Byrne), The Scottish National Jazz Orchestra, and The WDR Orchestra and Big Band (Germany).
The Wall Street Journal said, “Elling combines authenticity with stunning originality.” The Washington Post declared that, “since the mid-1990s, no singer in jazz has been as daring, dynamic or interesting as Kurt Elling.”
Elling’s dynamism is enhanced exponentially by the fact that he consistently generates new vocal material by writing and recording signature and definitive lyrics to the compositions of foundational jazz composers like John Coltrane, Keith Jarrett, Pat Metheny, Jaco Pastorius, Wayne Shorter, and Joe Zawinul. Additionally, Kurt Elling has co-created multi-disciplinary performances for Chicago’s Steppenwolf Theater and The City of Chicago. Jazz At Lincoln Center saw the world premier of The Big Blind, an entirely new jazz musical-in-progress Elling is co-writing with collaborator Phil Galdston (“Save The Best For Last”). National Poet Laureate Robert Pinsky declared that, “In Kurt Elling’s art, the voice of jazz gives new spiritual presence to the ancient, sweet and powerful bond between poetry and music.”
Elling has toured the world in a variety of contexts, including UNESCO-sponsored “International Jazz Day” performances in Havana, Cuba, in St. Petersburg, Russia, in Melbourne, Australia and in Washington DC. He has twice performed at the White House, including a performance in collaboration with the late Marvin Hamlisch and the National Symphony Orchestra for President Obama’s first State Dinner. He has served as Artist-In-Residence at the Monterey and Singapore Jazz Festivals. As a music industry leader, Elling spent six years serving as a Trustee and two years as Vice Chairman of The National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences.
ABOUT SUPERBLUE:
GRAMMY® Award-winner Kurt Elling is without question today’s preeminent male jazz vocalist, renowned worldwide for his unparalleled virtuosity and flair for trailblazing artistic exploration. From his stunning reinvention of timeless standards to his own captivating original songcraft, the Chicago-based musician has fused his dazzling talents across a panoply of musical approaches, emblazoning each with signature imagination, insight, and emotional intelligence.
Where many male jazz vocalists at this stage in a much vaunted career have tended to stick to the tried and true, Elling seems to be growing more ambitious and experimental with the passing of time, a tendency evidenced by his stunning new LP, SuperBlue: The Iridescent Spree. The followup to 2021’s remarkable SuperBlue, the album once again sees Elling joining forces with producer/guitarist Charlie Hunter and multi-instrumentalist duo drummer Corey Fonville and bassist-keyboardist DJ Harrison for a kaleidoscopic collection of new songs, surprising covers, and dynamic reinventions.
VIDEOS:
PREVIOUS ALBUMS:
PRESS:
SELECTED AWARDS:
Grammy Awards:
Best Jazz Vocal Album: Dedicated To You: Kurt Elling Sings the Music of Coltrane and Hartman
Best Jazz Vocal Album: Secrets Are The Best Stories, featuring Danilo Pérez
Grammy Nominations:
Best Jazz Vocal Album: Secrets Are The Best Stories, featuring Danilo Pérez
Best Jazz Vocal Album: The Questions
Best Jazz Vocal Album: Upward Spiral, The Branford Marsalis Quartet with special guest Kurt Elling
Best Jazz Vocal Album: 1619 Broadway – The Brill Building Project
Best Jazz Vocal Album: The Gate
Best Jazz Vocal Album: Dedicated To You
Best Jazz Vocal Album: Nightmoves
Best Jazz Vocal Album: Man In The Air
Best Jazz Vocal Album: Flirting With Twilight
Best Jazz Vocal Album: Live In Chicago
Best Jazz Vocal Performance: This Time It’s Love
Best Jazz Vocal Performance: The Messenger
Best Jazz Vocal Performance: Close Your Eyes
Best Instrumental Arrangement Accompanying a Vocalist: “Easy Living” from Flirting With Twilight
(Arrangement by Kurt Elling and Laurence Hobgood)
DownBeat:
Critics Poll: Male Vocalist of the Year – 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2018, 2019, 2021
Critics Poll: Talent Deserving Wider Recognition – 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000
Readers Poll: Male Vocalist of the Year – 2002, 2004, 2006, 2008, 2009, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2018, 2019, 2020 (tie), 2021
https://cvd.sanidad.gob.es/cvdcovid/cvdcovid-formulario/index.xhtmlJazzTimes:
Extended Critics’ Poll: Male Vocalist of the Year – 2018
Readers’ Poll: Male Vocalist of the Year – 1998, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2008, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2018
Readers’ Poll: Best New Release – 2012: 1619 Broadway – The Brill Building Project
Jazz Journalists Association:
Male Singer of the Year – 2000, 2002, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2018, 2019, 2020
JazzWeek:
Record of the Year: The Gate – 2011
Vocalist of the Year – 2006
Edison Jazz/World, The Netherlands:
Jazz Vocal International: Kurt Elling featuring Danilo Perez Secrets Are The Best Stories – 2021
Edison Jazz Oeuvreprijs (Lifetime Achievement Award) – 2014
Jazz Vocal: Kurt Elling, The Gate – 2011
ECHO Jazz Prize, Germany:
International Ensemble of the Year: Branford Marsalis Quartet with special guest Kurt Elling, Upward Spiral – 2017
International Male Singer of the Year: Kurt Elling, The Gate – 2012
Jazz FM Awards:
International Jazz Artist of the Year – 2013
Académie du Jazz de Paris:
Prix du Jazz Vocal: The Questions – 2018
Prix Billie Holiday: Man In The Air – 2003
Prix Billie Holiday: The Messenger – 1997
Blue Note Milano:
Award of the Year – 2013
Scottish Jazz Awards:
International category – 2012
LOTOS Jazz Festival, Poland:
Aniol Jazzowy/Jazz Angel Artistic Prize – 2018
Silesian Jazz Festival, Poland:
Jazz Ambassador – 2012