Two Tickets to Kurt Elling, February 16th, 8pm

GEM Theatre
1601 E 18th St
Kansas City MO

GRAMMY® winner Kurt Elling is among the world's foremost jazz vocalists. He has won every DownBeat Critics Poll for the last twelve years and has been named "Male Singer of the Year" by the Jazz Journalists Association eight times in that same span. Every one of Elling's nine albums has been nominated for at least one GRAMMY®. In recent months Kurt Eling has been presented several international GRAMMY® equivalents, including Germany's ECHO Award, The EDISON PRIZE from the Netherlands, and the SCOTTISH JAZZ AWARD (International) and was named Ambassador Jazzu to the City of Katowice, Poland.

Elling's rich baritone spans four octaves and features both astonishing technical mastery and emotional depth. His command of rhythm, texture, phrasing, and dynamics is more like a virtuoso jazz instrumentalist than a vocalist. His repertoire includes original compositions and modern interpretations of standards, all of which are springboards for inspired improvisation, scatting, spoken word, and poetry.

The New York Times declared, "Elling is the standout male vocalist of our time." The Washington Post said, "Since the mid-1990s, no singer in jazz has been as daring, dynamic or interesting as Kurt Elling. With his soaring vocal flights, his edgy lyrics and sense of being on a musical mission, he has come to embody the creative spirit in jazz." He has been featured in profiles for CBS Sunday Morning, CNN, on Ramsey Lewis's Legends of Jazz, and in hundreds of publications.

Elling has recorded and/or performed with an array of artists, including Terence Blanchard, Dave Brubeck, Jon Hendricks, Charlie Hunter, Al Jarreau, Christian McBride, and The Yellowjackets. He served as the Artist-in-Residence for the Singapore Music and Monterey Jazz Festivals. He has also written multi-disciplinary works for The Steppenwolf Theatre and the City of Chicago. The Obama Administration's first state dinner featured Elling in a command performance.

Grammy Awards:

• Best Jazz Vocal Album: Dedicated to You

Grammy Nominations:

• Best Jazz Vocal Album: The Gate


• Best Jazz Vocal Album: Nightmoves


• Best Jazz Vocal Album: Man in the Air


• Best Jazz Vocal Album: Flirting With Twilight


• Best Jazz Vocal Album: Live in Chicago


• Best Jazz Vocal Performance: This Time It's Love


• Best Jazz Vocal Performance: The Messenger


• Best Jazz Vocal Performance: Close Your Eyes


• Best Instrumental Arrangement Accompanying a Vocalist "Dedicated to You" from Dedicated to You (Arrangement by Laurence Hobgood)


• Best Instrumental Arrangement Accompanying a Vocalist "Easy Living" from Flirting With Twilight (Arrangement by Kurt Elling and Laurence Hobgood)

DownBeat:

• Critics Poll Winner: Male Vocalist of the Year – 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012


• Critics Poll Winner: Talent Deserving Wider Recognition – 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000


• Readers Poll Winner: Male Vocalist of the Year – 2002, 2004, 2006, 2008, 2009, 2011

JazzTimes:

• Readers' Poll: Male Vocalist of the Year – 1998, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2008, 2010, 2011

Jazz Journalists Association:

• Male Singer of the Year – 2000, 2002, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012

JazzWeek:

• Vocalist of the Year – 2006


• Record of the Year: The Gate – 2011

Scottish Jazz Awards:

• International category – 2012

Silesian Jazz Festival, Poland:

• Jazz Ambassador – 2012

ECHO Jazz, Germany:

• International Male Singer of the Year: Kurt Elling, The Gate – 2012

Edison Jazz/World, The Netherlands:

• Jazz Vocal: Kurt Elling, The Gate – 2011

Académie du Jazz de Paris:

• Prix Billie Holiday: The Messenger

Nightlife Awards:

• Outstanding Jazz Vocalist in a Major Engagement – 2010

Union League Club of Chicago:

• Distinguished Musician – Inducted in 2011

Chicago Music Awards:

• Jazz Record of the Year – 1997

Rockford Area Music Awards:

• Hall Of Fame Induction – 2000

Chicago Tribune:

• A Chicagoan of The Year (Arts) – 1995

Crain's Chicago Business:

• Inductee: 40 under 40 (Who Make a Difference in Chicago Business) – 1998