Kurt Elling has a new fan: me.
Last night I experienced the quickest two hours of my life. They occurred at Yoshi’s, my living room for jazz. Pie-shaped and purple-walled, there is no bad seat in the house of this Oakland jazz club. I’ve heard that Pat Metheny said onstage, “I thought this kind of place only existed in the movies.”
I just learned about Kurt Elling in December, so in no way am I an expert. I do know that my face bore an open jaw and a silly grin the whole set. You guys would love him. He is philosophical and poetic, but not pretentious. Serious and technically superior, but not stuffy.
He is an expert at vocalese, or the act of putting words to improvised solos of jazz artists (Keith Jarrett, Wayne Shorter, Dexter Gordon, and John Coltrane to name a few). This is not to say he doesn’t improvise himself. His scatting techniques are like nothing I’ve ever seen live. In the midst of this superior technicality, he retained silliness. In the middle of arpeggiating some colorful chord up and down his vast range, he “improvised” the theme from “The Munsters”. Just as I was able to place the tune, he looked at the audience and asked, “Where did that come from?”
His wife and small daughter were in the audience. The little one occasionally interacted with the music and he encouraged us to do the same. Interaction between he and his rhythm trio was breathtaking, and yet I was not afraid to move. During a piano solo, his daughter started crying. “Don’t worry, Honey,” he said, “it won’t stay minor forever”.
For you night owls, Kurt Elling is promoting his soon-to-be-released CD “Nightmoves”, carrying a “twilight through dawn” theme. Most songs were about a person and their story. Imagery was everywhere.
After tackling these jazz greats, what should he leave us with as an encore? Why, Steve Miller’s “The Joker”, of course.
So that I don’t sound like a girl jumping up and down for Elvis, I will admit that Elling’s tone quality is not my favorite. Nasal in quality, it does not in itself massage the soul. Some of the noises he made would be categorically “annoying” in any other context. Last night, however, they dazzled our ears. During a period of life when I feel like crawling into a cocoon, Elling reminded me that it is worth taking risks to connect with others.
His first lyric of the night was “The stage is set for dreaming.” He had me at “The”.
Basically, I had church.
If you are near Catalina’s in Hollywood, he’ll be there Thursday through Sunday. You’ll look cooler if you keep your mouth closed.
Updated, November 11th, 2007
He was in SF last night and INCREDIBLE as usual. Then, after the concert, he hounded me in the lobby for this picture. Or was it the other way around?… I can’t remember exactly ;) but we had a nice exchange.
I love this review. You make me feel like I was there. Thanks, S.
Beautifully written, Sharolyn. The Divine Mr. E was at Jazz Alley last month here in Seattle and we didn’t get to it. We SUCK.
Hey, why are you wanting to do the cocoon thing? Is it because it’s March and everybody wants to (even you damned Californians with your palm trees and cheerful…sunshine)?
Cerise
Thank you, Corey.
Have you ever felt like every single aspect of your life is requiring something of you? That’s why the cocoon.
Yikes. That sounds…familiar. Perhaps we should start our own dual, temporary whine-blog that gets us through the end of March, hey?
Not that you’re whining. I’m whining. I’d let you co-whine if you felt like it.
Cerise
I loved this review. Thanks for sharing Sharolyn!
Thanks, Karen!
Cerise, I would love to co-whine. Then I wouldn’t feel so whiny. I do feel I am emerging out of a funk. Maybe that’s why I enjoyed this concert so much. You can show me Jazz Alley, and I’ll buy you a drink!
Hell, yes, Sharolyn. The more I read of you the more I’m convinced that we would be excellent whine-buddies. We could probably even amp it up to getting along in other ways, too. It’s wild.
Cerise
One of the greatest things in life is that you can still discover a Kurt Elling, no matter how much time has gone by. I just discovered him on Michael Feldman’s Whad’ya Know? radio show last year. See my review of his CD, Flirting with Twilight, http://forellefilosofy.blogspot.com/2007/03/timing-nuance-great-ear.html
I hate to brag, but Sharolyn experienced the quickest 2 hours of her life at the concert and when she got home, I showed her the quickest 2 1/2 minutes of life.
Saucy! I like it!
OH
MY
GOSH.
And I encouraged him to blog.
:)
Dangerous. Much to learn have you.
Here’s another typical Kurt Elling response. About 2 years ago my wife and I drove 2.5 hours on a Friday evening from our home in San Diego to Orange County ( all of about 60 miles…) to see Mr. Elling at a small venue. After getting settled with several quick strong cocktails ( I was jonesing by then), we then listened to 82 minutes of what I would call a transcendental moment. Mr. Elling and the band were so good, that I literally ” yelled” at them when they quit playing because we were desperate for more. I explained to the bouncer ( who had thrown me out by then) that I had waited all my life for an experience like that, and soon I was apologizing to Kurt and band in the green room after the show. He told me “this happens all the time” and that I shouldn’t worry about it”. How cool is that !
updated, with new photoy goodness!