Kurt Elling both wows and seduces his
audience within seconds of stepping onto the stage. His persona successfully
managing to combine charisma, elegance, intellect, humour and also a knowing
sense of self-depracation, works to great effect and makes his performance from
start to finish an utter joy.
Touring in support of his new ‘1619
Broadway: The Brill Building Project’ album, that celebrates the famous song
factory that pumped out of the biggest songs and songwriting teams of the 20th
century, Elling delved deep into an expansive catalogue of numbers that took in
jazz, pop, rock and even medieval poetry.
A masterclass in charismatic
performance, there isn’t a single empty space in the whole gig, with the gaps
between songs filled with instrumental accompaniment, witty stage repartee,
well-practiced on-the-road anecdotes, and the most fun of all, spontaneous band
improvisation, utilizing not just a virtuoso performing band, but also Ellings
incredible vocal skills. Not just a powerful baritone with an enviable five
octave range, his scalpel-like precision in being able to alter and manipulate
his voice is astounding, and the dazzling way he held an extended note at the
end of his and Von Freemans’ ‘I Like The Sunrise’ made his voice sound almost
like brass instrument, or maybe even several.
It was not just The Kurt Elling Show
either, with a brilliant band performing incredibly for the whole performance. Playing the bass, in any genre of music, can often be a
thankless and overlooked role, and yet Clarke Sommers was handed a very
generous moment to shine, and he made absolutely sure to make his moment in the
limelight his own. Theodore Roethke’s classic poem ‘The Waking’ is one of my
favourite Kurt Elling pieces anywhere, and it was reproduced brilliantly on
this night. Sommers’ soulful bass anchored and propelled the whole thing
forward, while also working toward providing one of the more mellow moments for
the evening.
The whole band
however played to perfection. Drummer Kendrick Scott managed to showcase as
many different possible styles as there were songs, and changed his pace
skillfully to match any curveballs that his boss threw his way. Laurance
Hobgood too showed why despite being labeled as ‘pianist’ is frequently
referred to by Elling himself as ‘my musical collaborator’ – not one to hog the
spotlight, he played sympathetically, and provided light skittering backing
when required, but also made sure to join in with the shout-outs to the band
during their driving solos.
One of the newer
additions to the band and perhaps the key to expanding the sound of group is
John McLean, a cool and bluesy inflected guitarist who contributed subtle
shades of soun d and washes of colour as much as he dazzled with electrifying
solos and melodic interplay with Ellings vocals and Hobgoods piano. Based on
his performance tonight alone he deserves to be a much bigger name.
Although designed
to be a showcase of his songs from the recen Brill Building album, Elling also
dived into other songs that he had toyed with including on the album, but had
ultimately left off. Previous album ‘The Gate’ was also picked from, with the
highly gymnastic vocals of Marc Johnson’s ‘Samurai Cowboy’, but the clear
highlight was a beautifully seductive take on Carole King’s ‘So Far Away’. Pure
emotion has rarely sounded so good or so musical.
A skillful, highly
charged singer with an incredible range, Kurt Elling’s untoppable charisma and
quartet’s stunning interplay helps make this easily the greatest male vocal
jazz outfit performing right now. During the gig Elling made a joke that it
felt like a promotion, having gone from a five day residency last year to an
improved six day stint for his 2013 European tour, and should probably have got
‘an exta taste’. As much as we all laughed though, I’d be very surprised if
Kurt Elling doesn’t increase his residencies the globe over for many more years
to come.
No photos from the night (club policy) but here's one of Kurt looking cool.
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