Kurt Elling

Kurt Elling: Celebrated Jazz Vocalist

Kurt Elling is a two-time GRAMMY Award winner, renowned for his signature, rich sound and inventive, individualized body of work. Based in Chicago, his contemporary beat lyricism and vocalese-writing ingenuity have extended the parameters of vocal jazz and enlarged its vocabulary. The New York Times has called Kurt Elling the standout male jazz vocalist of our time, while The Guardian (UK) has described him as a kind of Sinatra with superpowers.

Award-Winning Career

Over a twenty-five-year career of touring and recording, Elling has won multiple prestigious awards:

• Three Prix du Jazz Vocal (France)
• Two German Echo Awards
• Two Dutch Edison Awards

Elling has also been nominated for a GRAMMY Award sixteen times. He has maintained a 14-year run atop the DownBeat Critics and Readers polls and has won twelve Jazz Journalists Awards for Male Vocalist of the Year.

Collaborations and Performances

Elling's collaborations with leading jazz figures include partnerships with Branford Marsalis, Danilo Perez, Fred Hersch, Charlie Hunter, and Stefon Harris. He has performed as a featured soloist with many of the world's leading large ensembles, such as:

• NY Philharmonic
• The BBC Concert Symphony
• The Count Basie Orchestra
• The WDR Big Band and Orchestra
• The Clayton-Hamilton Orchestra
• The Village Vanguard Orchestra

Innovative Projects

Elling has co-created multi-disciplinary performances for Chicago's Steppenwolf Theater and The City of Chicago. Jazz At Lincoln Center premiered "The Big Blind," an entirely new jazz musical co-written with Phil Galdston (Save The Best For Last). National Poet Laureate Robert Pinsky praised Elling’s art, emphasizing his contribution to the powerful bond between poetry and music.

Global Engagement and Leadership

Elling has toured the world in various contexts, including UNESCO-sponsored International Jazz Day performances in locations such as Havana, Cuba; St. Petersburg, Russia; Melbourne, Australia; and Washington DC. He has performed at the White House twice, including a collaboration performance with the late Marvin Hamlisch and the National Symphony Orchestra for President Obama’s first State Dinner. Elling has served as Artist-In-Residence at both the Monterey and Singapore Jazz Festivals. As a music industry leader, he served six years as a Trustee and two years as Vice Chairman of The National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences.