I first heard and saw Chicago based Kurt Elling and his band at the Wangaratta Jazz Festival in 1998. If that sounds like an unlikely place for an encounter with an international sensation, well it isn't. Wangaratta Jazz is now well established as one of (if not the) premier jazz festivals in Australia. But that's another story.
Kurt and band captivated his audiences with renditions of tunes - mostly familiar standards, but some not - that were so new, fresh, alive and vibrant that he tore the place apart and virtually caused a stampede to greet him and clamber for autographs afterwards. Women fainted in the isles. Come to think of it, a lot of guys did too.
The album I'm recommending is called This Time It's Love (a reference to the opening track, My Foolish Heart). Contained therein are eleven further tracks. Some romantic ballads, some cool swingin' numbers, some funky, a latin feel and more.
This is not yet another young cat singing the Sinatra songbook. Kurt Elling is quite simply a new breed of singer. It is classy stuff. It is intelligent. It is modern. It is exciting. It is certainly adventurous. It is infectious. It grows on you. I'll just bet that you will want more of his albums, after you get the feel of this one.
First published in Restaurant and Catering Magazine, Dec 2003
