Kurt Elling Live at Catalina's 2-19-05
by Shannon Kennedy
Kurt Elling has been my greatest vocal and melodic influence for the last
few years. I was first inspired by his album "The Man Up in the Air". Being
from Chicago, he rarely plays out in California, and last February 2005, he
was out at Catalina's, so I couldn't miss the chance to go and see him.
I first met Kurt Elling at IAJE, and was pretty star struck by him, which is
saying something because I don't get star struck. At the time, I had just
bought my Jody Jazz DV tenor mouthpiece, and all I had was a sharpie and
the wood box that the mouthpiece came in, so I had him sign the box. It
was really funny because when I handed him the box, he looked at me
funny and asked "What is it?". I told him it was my mouthpiece box, and he
said he felt like he needed to be a tenor player at least. Someone else who
was standing near him said he was a tenor voice, so that should suffice,
and he laughed as he signed the case.
So, back to his performance - I had never been to Catalina's before, and it
was pretty cool. I went with my friend, and we got to sit at a table in what
could be the second row, so we were pretty close.
A trio came up first and played a song - it was piano, bass, and drums. I
didn't think that they were very good, but then, when Kurt Elling came up
and they didn't leave the stage, I realized that they were his band. During
the concert, I came to the conclusion that the group sounded a lot better
playing with Mr. Elling than they did without him.
As far as Kurt Elling, his performance was inspiring. His stage presence was
very comfortable, and confident. He had a great sense of humor and was
very interactive with the audience. His facial expressions and body
language/movement were very into the music, and he made himself very
inviting to watch. Plus, he was wearing a really cool coat/jacket. His singing
was, of course, amazing, even though you couldn't expect it to be any less,
and he received quite a few calls, screams, and giggles from some of the
other ladies in the audience.
One of the songs he received the most response from was "Space Cowboy",
which of course, rightfully received the amount of attention it received. But
in all respect, some of his original stuff moved me more since you could tell
it meant something to him because he created it.
After the show was over, I talked to him, and he did remember me from
IAJE (how could you not remember having someone ask you to sign a wood
box?), but remembered it as being a microphone case. So, we talked about
singing for a while before I told him that I play sax more than I sing, which I
think slightly surprised him.
Kurt Elling is extremely talented vocally, and an extremely brilliant man. If
you check out his site, you will find some amazing sound clips and you can
read some of his projects or lyrics. A lot of his work is putting lyrics to
instrumental solos - one he performed was a Dexter Gordon (if I remember
correctly) solo which was also amazing. So, if you haven't checked out his
site already, you should if you have the chance. Kurt Elling is someone who
has greatly influenced me, so I recommend him to anyone and everyone. I
own most of his CDs, and I listen to him frequently. One thing that he does
that I try to emulate is the way he sings melodies - I try to play them how
he sings them. Also, as a vocalist, he is one of my influences.
