Kurt Elling Celebrates Weather Report

Information

Kurt Elling brings his vocal mastery and sublime song interpretation to SOPAC in tribute to Weather Report’s musical impact and cultural legacy. From Wayne Shorter’s imaginative harmony to the enduring hookup between Jaco Pastorius and Joe Zawinul, Elling celebrates the sounds, concepts & breakthroughs that render Weather Report among the most influential outfits of the 20th century. Don’t miss the Grammy Award-winning singer and band leader interpret hits like “Mysterious Traveller,” “Teen Town” & “Birdland,” plus lesser known gems.

Kurt Elling

“One of the greatest male jazz vocalists of his time…the music pulsates with an energetic fusion of jazz, funk and R&B rhythms.”
– Tidal

“Fourteen albums later, he is conjuring new dreams
[and] reaching new audiences.”
– DownBeat

Kurt Elling is a two-time Grammy Award winner renowned for a signature, rich sound and an inventive and individualized body of work. With a one-of-a kind brand of contemporary beat lyricism and vocalese-writing ingenuity, the Chicago-based musician has received praise from The New York Times as “the standout male jazz vocalist of our time,” and The Guardian (UK) as “a kind of Sinatra with superpowers.”Over his 25-year career of touring and recording, Elling has won three Prix du Jazz Vocal (France), two German Echo Awards, and two Dutch Edison Awards, and has received 16 Grammy nominations. He has had a 14-year run atop the DownBeat Critics and Readers polls, and won 12 Jazz Journalists Awards for Male Vocalist of the Year.

Elling has collaborated with Branford Marsalis, Danilo Perez, Fred Hersch, Charlie Hunter, and Stefon Harris. He has also performed as a featured soloist with the New York Philharmonic, The BBC Concert Symphony, The Count Basie Orchestra, The WDR Big Band and Orchestra, The Clayton-Hamilton Orchestra, and The Vanguard Jazz Orchestra.

In addition to his work as a lyricist and composer for his own ensembles, 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 musical Elling is co-writing with collaborator Phil Galdston. National Poet Laureate Robert Pinsky declared that, “In Kurt Elling’s art, the voice of jazz gives new spiritual presence to the ancient, sweet and powerful bond between poetry and music.”

Elling has toured the world in a variety of contexts, including UNESCO-sponsored International Jazz Day performances in Havana, Cuba, St. Petersburg, Russia, Melbourne, Australia, and Washington D.C. He has twice performed at the White House, including a performance in collaboration with the late Marvin Hamlisch and the National Symphony Orchestra for President Obama’s first State Dinner. He has served as artist-in-residence at Monterey and Singapore Jazz Festivals. As a music industry leader, Elling spent six years serving as a trustee and two years as vice chairperson of The National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences.