EXCLUSIVES

Jazz Mac Messenger
Singer Kurt Elling is not Just the Best Singer in Jazz, He's Also a Hardcore Mac Lover

Words by A. David Cooper
Image provided by Blue Note Records
March 2004

Pop music has become a jumbled mélange of rock wails, guttural raps, and over-the-top candy coated show tunes burying song artistry in favor of hooks and a catchy beat. But what else is new? Ever since the music industry first caught on to the formula for what makes a hit, music with a brain has always suffered and often languished in the shadow of pop's star shine.

Such is the case today for the old lady known as Jazz. Once the most popular form of music in America, and the world, the art form has gone from the very top of the heap to almost complete obscurity in the last ten years. Jazz's last hurray seemed to come in the 80s in the form of Wynton Marsalis, an ardent Jazz activist and a trumpet player destined to go down in music history as a legend.

But as time has passed, Marsalis has focused his passions on growing New York's Lincoln Center Jazz institution; and the young lions who used to get a leg up from the master are finding it harder and harder to find an audience in the U.S.

Yet bubbling just underneath the surface of Britney, The White Stripes and 50 Cent is a new breed of Jazz artists gradually making their impact felt around the globe and increasingly here in the United States. Chief among those emerging Jazz visionaries is singer Kurt Elling.

A Chicago native, Elling follows proudly in the tradition of scat singers such as Eddie Jefferson, Jon Hendricks, and King Pleasure who specialized in a difficult art known as vocalese. In practicing vocalese, a singer takes a well known Jazz instrumental solo performance, puts words to it, and then performs the solo note for note with the new lyrics. This might not seem like such a feat at first; but if you've ever listened to some of the more technically challenging Jazz instrumentalists such as Charlie Parker and John Coltrane, you'd understand that vocalese is not an art form for the meek singers in the pack. As for following in the footsteps of the masters, Elling says, "I think the real love of tradition doesn't come from copying anyone, I think the real love of it all comes from improvisation in 2004."

Nevertheless, Elling rises to this challenge time and time again on his new CD "Man In The Air," a collection of Jazz tunes that defy convention and bring moments of joy, insight and ultimately, passion. Still, the hardcore business of Jazz can test even the most passionate artists as they attempt to distinguish themselves; Elling is matter of fact when he says, "My relationship with the business is that I'm following my muse. That's it. I think I've found five percent of my audience. Ninety-five percent of my audience is still waiting to discover the music."

Backed by pianist Laurence Hobgood, a studious keyboard scientist, bassist Rob Amster and drummer Frank Parker, Elling swings hard into songs from his first two CDs The Messenger, This Time It's Love, and his current disk Man In The Air (all on the classic label Blue Note). What is most amazing about Elling isn't just the way he deftly dances across difficult vocal gymnastics with seeming ease. No, the most magical thing about Elling's performance is his sheer charisma and commitment to the material that is readily apparent in everything he does on stage.

A gesture here, a wink there, and the raw power of intellect merged with superb vocal acuity make for a special experience.

Considering that Elling unconsciously shows off his intellect every time he opens his mouth, one might wonder if this practitioner of the old Jazz form is in touch with the technology world. As it turns out, he is - Kurt Elling is a long time Mac lover! "I have a white iBook and I use it everyday to print out lyrics. I'm also the Vice Chair of the Recording Academy, so I have to keep track of a lot of documents using my iBook," says Elling.

But question Elling's status as a veteran Mac man and not just newbie switcher; and you'll see Elling perk up, "[The Mac] is the greatest invention in the last 20 years. It's much more friendly than a PC. I actually don't know any Jazz musicians who work on a PC. The Mac just makes everything so much easier."

And what does this old school dude think of the iPod? "Great! I keep radio shows on it, and I dump recordings of our European shows on it. It's the greatest." Once again Elling illustrates how he is a man who can successfully interpret the past and look energetically into the future!

What Is On Kurt Elling's iPod?
John Lee Hooker
Frank Zappa
Nina Simone
Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan
Snoop Dogg
Avril Levine

www.kurtelling.com