One of the world’s leading jazz singers, Kurt Elling, joins the Scottish National Jazz Orchestra at Glasgow Royal Concert Hall on Saturday 28 September.
An established friend of the SNJO, Chicago-born Elling has chosen music by some of the greatest and most popular songwriters and composers of the past seventy years for his latest visit to Scotland.
Big band classics by Duke Ellington and Count Basie and show tunes by Rodgers & Hart are represented, as are pop songs by the Police and Joe Jackson, whose 1982 transatlantic hit, Steppin’ Out gives this concert its name.
Phenomenon
“Kurt Elling is a phenomenon,” says SNJO Artistic Director Tommy Smith. “Since 2012 he has collaborated with us on a series of captivating and diverse programmes.
“From honouring the legendary Frank Sinatra to crafting the seasonal spiritual experience of Spirit of Light and delving into profound philosophical themes in works such as Apparition Bridge and Syntopicon, Kurt’s artistic vision knows no bounds.”
Recognition for Elling’s talents has been plentiful. In the US he has won two Grammy Awards, having been nominated sixteen times, and he topped the prestigious Downbeat magazine Critics Poll on fourteen consecutive occasions from 2000 to 2013, subsequently adding to this success.
He has also won three Prix du Jazz Vocal in France, two German Echo Awards, two Dutch Edison Awards and the International Jazz Artist of the Year title at the Jazz FM Awards.
From honouring the legendary Frank Sinatra to crafting the seasonal spiritual experience of Spirit of Light and delving into profound philosophical themes in works such as Apparition Bridge and Syntopicon, Kurt’s artistic vision knows no bounds - Tommy Smith
“As well as putting his own stamp on established songs including, in these concerts, Come Fly with Me and You Are Too Beautiful, Kurt has written definitive lyrics for tunes by jazz masters including saxophonist Wayne Shorter, pianist-composer Carla Bley and the revolutionary bassist Jaco Pastorius,” says Smith.
“We’re looking forward to delivering these with him in vibrant orchestral arrangements.”
For Smith, this latest collaboration with Elling is a particularly exciting way for the SNJO to open its 2024/25 season.
“Working with Kurt is always inspiring and his choice of material for these concerts is sure to stimulate our audiences and musicians alike.
“Steppin’ Out promises both the reassuringly familiar and, as jazz was once famously described, the sound of surprise.”
