Dedicated To You: Kurt Elling Sings the Music of Coltrane and Hartman

Performer: Kurt Elling
Distributor: Universal Distribution

Notes: Recorded live at Lincoln Center's American Songbook Series, New York, New York. Personnel: Kurt Elling (vocals); Mary Rowell, Cornelius Dufallo (violin); Ralph Farris (viola); Dorothy Lawson (cello); Ernie Watts (saxophone); Laurence Hobgood (piano); Clark Sommers (upright bass); Ulysses Owens (drums). Perhaps taking a page from Karrin Allyson's note-perfect tribute to John Coltrane's BALLADS, the contemporary jazz singer Kurt Elling offers his own live tribute to the classic Impulse LP JOHN COLTRANE & JOHNNY HARTMAN, the tenor icon's 1963 collaboration with the perennially underrated Hartman, an exquisitely mannered singer who brought out the romantic best in both Coltrane and his listeners alike. The burnished-voiced Elling brings his own considerable romantic best to this 2008 Lincoln Center concert (part of the "American Songbook" Series) with fulsome support from pianist Laurence Hobgood, who also did the skillful string quartet arrangements (played by ETHEL), and saxophonist Ernie Watts. Elling in no way channels Hartman; he retains his own contemporary style as he delves into key selections from COLTRANE & HARTMAN like "Lush Life," "They Say It's Wonderful," and, of course, "Dedicated To You," itself a nod to the swooning '40s duet by Coltrane favorite Billy Eckstine and Sarah Vaughan. Stepping outside his own framework a bit, Elling also includes songs from BALLADS, the beautiful "Say It Over (And Over Again)" and a instrumental setting of "It's Easy To Remember," over which the singer narrates a little "jazz story" of his own devising. In a single three-hour session in March 1963, John Coltrane and the singer Johnny Hartman convened in a studio (along with the other members of Coltrane's legendary quintet) and recorded an album's worth of ballads that became one of the most beloved jazz vocal albums of all-time, the simply titled John Coltrane and Johnny Hartman. Both of those artists are long gone but their one-off collaboration inspired singer Kurt Elling to pay tribute in a tour that has now found its way to this live album, record at the Allen Room in Lincoln Center in early 2009. Accompanied by the Laurence Hobgood Trio (Hobgood, piano and co-production, with Elling; Clark Sommers, bass; Ulysses Owens, drums), the tenor saxophonist Ernie Watts guesting on several tracks, and the Ethel string quartet, Elling performs his own takes on the six songs that comprised the original Coltrane-Hartman album, plus several others in a similar vein, most drawn from the 1962 Coltrane album Ballads (which did not include Hartman). Elling possesses one of the warmest, most romantic voices in jazz-pop today, and he is ideally suited for these standards, songs such as Billy Strayhorn's "Lush Life," Sammy Cahn's "Dedicated to You," and Jimmy Van Heusen's "Nancy with the Laughing Face." All of these tunes have, of course, been interpreted by probably hundreds of other singers, but Elling's grace, command, and nuanced phrasing put him, with his expressive baritone and obvious affection for this material, well into the upper echelon. The musicians are particularly sympathetic, knowing when to use restraint and when to step out a bit, and the lushness provided by the strings juxtaposes perfectly with Watts' meaty tenor work. What makes the tribute that much more worthy is that Elling and crew (including Watts) don't attempt to re-create the Coltrane-Hartman session so much as channel its essence. "Dedicated to You" is not an echo, which would be a pointless exercise, but a beautifully realized work in its own right. ~ Jeff Tamarkin

JazzTimes (p.68) - "[O]nly Elling can be credited with the touches of masterful phrasing -- especially on 'Lush Life' and 'My One and Only Love' -- that transform Hartman's black velvet canvas into an expanse of subdued vibrancy." Record Collector (magazine) (p.90) - 3 stars out of 5 -- "[I]t features some striking string quartet arrangements..."

Chicago singer Kurt Elling started out singing classical repertoire as a young man, but soon developed an interest in jazz. As a contemporary jazz vocalist, Elling incorporated the "vocalese" style of Jon Hendricks and James Moody, the hipster/beatnik slant of monologist/poets like Lord Buckley, and a progressive, visionary quality all his own. Every one of Elling's first six albums was nominated for a Grammy award, and he has consistently come out on top in jazz magazine polls, yet due to the uncompromising, left-of-center nature of his work, he continues to be a cult hero, existing outside the mainstream.

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