THE GIG

Kurt Elling on Youth, Critics

This month’s cover story for JazzTimes, re: singer Kurt Elling, has been excerpted online. There’s way more insight behind the paywall, so if you like what you see, please go buy a copy, or swipe one from your neighbor. Meanwhile, I thought I’d expand on just one (major) aspect of the piece here, having to do with his thoughts on artistic maturity and its antipode, callow youth. 

Elling is nothing if not a self-reflective artist, and soon after we sat down he was musing on his stature vis-à-vis jazz’s critical establishment. The tide had been turning for him in that regard, especially since the generally acknowledged triumph of his Coltrane-Hartman album, Dedicated to You, in 2009. But what Elling seemed eager to talk about were his detractors, some of whom he felt had formed their opinions early on.* Here is some of what he said:

Elling in High Places

I recently referred to Kurt Elling as a “consummate insider,” in a Gig column (and, by inference, in this related post). Well, it turns out that he’ll be performing at the White House tonight, for the first official State dinner of the Obama administration. His accompaniment will include not only pianist-sidekick Laurence Hobgood but also an orchestra conducted by Marvin Hamlisch. The guest of honor is India’s prime minister, but you can probably bet that Elling will not perform his Hindu-relevant lines from John Coltrane’s “Resolution.” (For the record, they are: “Vishnu! Preserve us all along the way; keep us clear of the final thunderbolt of the judgement day.”)

There’s a fascinating personal twist that I first learned through Ted Panken’s Elling interview at Jazz.com. Here it is via a Concord press release: “Both Chicago natives, Elling first met then-state senator Obama in the course of a real-estate deal: when the Obamas moved to the Chicago house they now own, Elling and his wife purchased their Hyde Park condominium.” So the conversation tonight could conceivably involve favorite takeout restaurants from the old neighborhood, though I imagine all parties will exercise due restraint.

Say It (Over And Over Again)

 

I haven’t seen the new issue of JazzTimes in print, but I noticed that this month’s column, on Kurt Elling, has been posted online -- to a small burst of lively conversation. (The first in a volley of comments came from someone apparently concerned about my sinuses. I appreciate that, having just flown 6,000 miles. More on that in a sec.)

My subject, suavely pictured above, was chosen to align with the magazine’s vocal issue, which features an even more suave (suaver?) Harry Connick, Jr. on the cover. And while I hope the column is worth reading in full, my basic point splatters right there on the floor: “Kurt Elling is the most influential jazz vocalist of our time.”