Kurt Elling at Birdland
Kurt Elling
Birdland, NYC, October 3, 2014
Reviewed by Melody Breyer-Grell for Cabaret Scenes
All was not copasetic in the “World of Kurt Elling” to my ears, although his voice, probably the best in the business of jazz, was as healthy as ever. He still possessed those wondrous gleaming tones, a far-reaching range and rapid-fire, flexible scat.
Elling, in asserting the adage that almost any song can be interpreted in a jazz appropriate setting, left my guest and me wondering if every piece should be. His “Norwegian Wood” (“This Bird Has Flown”) (Lennon/McCartney) was not too off-putting, but it floated around, never giving us a real payoff, just drifting, sort of like wood into the sea.
While jazz is about personal reinterpretation, the artist should not change the essential thrust of the song. “Moonlight in Vermont” was more in tune with (as backed up by the horns) a theater rush on 42nd Street—the arrangement reflecting a traffic jam—rather than a rural setting.
Elling was certainly chipper though, and—although I did enjoy his smiling visage—I was not buying his offerings. He proudly listed the number of countries he was visiting and the languages he was learning to further his multicultural inclinations. That meant we got a piece by Björk (“Who Is It?”) and the Cuban “Sufrimiento,” the latter being tasty enough due to the indigenous connection of Latin traditions in jazz. Let’s never forget that the man can and did sing everything superbly, even though I would have liked to shake a decent standard out of him.
Most painful was his over-the-top version of “Body and Soul.” All mixed up with a pointless vocalese and blended in with Dexter Gordon’s lines—by this time my body and soul were wishing to be entertained, not punished by the cacophonous stew that was served up.
Elling has parted ways with his longtime pianist and arranger Laurence Hobgood—which begged the question—why is this show different from any other show? The singer did not play it safe or cautious in his earlier days, but he could always pull your heart out with tunes such as “Not While I’m Around” or “My Foolish Heart.” No such bone was thrown to us.
Emmet Cohen played piano and the organ well enough, but Hobgood was sorely missed. Will Vinson’s sax was just fine, but would have been better used in a Gershwin tone-poem.
Category: Cabaret Reviews, New York City, New York City Cabaret Reviews
