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" I'm thrilled when I hear the greatest jazz musicians. They continue to search in ways other musicians do not. "
Kurt Elling
Greatest
Search
Hear
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" Sometimes, with vocalese, I'm dealing with something, a great solo from the past, which is so iconic I can't presume to change it or mess with it. "
Kurt Elling
Great
Past
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" I've got enough miles under my belt to know that whatever you envision in your mind, even if it comes true, will only keep a shape in the most general way. "
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Mind
You
Enough
" As improvisers, we're acting as composers in front of people. "
Kurt Elling
Front
People
Acting
" I think I make most of my decisions pretty organically. "
Kurt Elling
Pretty
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Most
" I remember seeing Tony Bennett on television. He was the only guy in the orchestra who was wearing a white tux, and I thought, 'That would be good. To be the only man on stage in a white jacket.' "
Kurt Elling
Remember
Good
Television
" You want to be doing your best work whatever field of the arts you're in because your life's going to be over all too soon, and you have to make the most of it. "
Kurt Elling
Life
You
Work
" I think of jazz as being homage through innovation. Don't quote that as a definition, but it comes pretty close. "
Kurt Elling
Pretty
Innovation
Jazz
" You can never predict what the specific shape of your life is going to be, and you won't really know its general shape until, God willing, you're advanced in years and you have the time and opportunity to look back in a coherent way and see what your life was about. "
Kurt Elling
God
Time
Opportunity
" I travel all the time. And as I go around the world, I try to learn a little something and not just take up all the available air. "
Kurt Elling
Travel
Time
World
" You don't want to make records so you can win a Grammy. You make records because you want to be a musician. "
Kurt Elling
Records
Win
You
" I was very lucky that more experienced musicians allowed me to caterwaul until I figured out what it was really about. "
Kurt Elling
Lucky
Me
More
" Chicago is my home. And the way Chicago sounds will always be a part of who I am. "
Kurt Elling
Way
Will
Always
" Out in L.A., things relax even further than they do in Chicago. There's such a looseness to it, and there's a potentially refreshing advantage to that. "
Kurt Elling
Things
Refreshing
Relax
" If you start to dwell on your pain, the amount of pain will increase. "
Kurt Elling
You
Dwell
Your
" I've worked with a number of big bands, but there's nothing in life like the Basie band. "
Kurt Elling
Big
Number
Nothing
" At a certain point, the graduate school thing didn't work out, and that meant I was liberated. "
Kurt Elling
Point
Work
Graduate School
" Romance is one of the things that most countries share, and I've noticed how different communities have their own ways of singing about love and heartbreak. "
Kurt Elling
Own
Love
Singing
" I think my intention was there, and my love for the music was apparent. And there are very few singers who get up and desire to take the kinds of risks that jazz musicians routinely need to be taking. "
Kurt Elling
Musicians
Music
Risks
" Audiences have taught me how to sing better and entertain better. "
Kurt Elling
Sing
Me
Taught
" My strength is to communicate with an audience and to know what jazz singing is capable of. "
Kurt Elling
Know
Strength
Audience
" Grammy nominations are certainly pleasant, but you can forget about them and lead a perfectly happy life - provided you have the approval of the musicians you work with. "
Kurt Elling
Happy
Happy Life
Musicians
" I'm a goof, man. "
Kurt Elling
Man
Goof
" It's pretty rare in jazz to have a full-on steady band. "
Kurt Elling
Band
Steady
Rare
" Listening to something without being present is different from being there in the flesh. "
Kurt Elling
Listening
Without
Present
" Each of the CDs prior to 'Flirting With Twilight' were more like roller-coaster rides. "
Kurt Elling
CDs
Twilight
Like
" There's a wide spectrum of possibilities in how to deliver a song. "
Kurt Elling
Wide
Deliver
How
" We live in a society where it's cool to be criminal. "
Kurt Elling
Criminal
Where
Society
" There are incredible musicians around the world. "
Kurt Elling
Incredible
Musicians
World
" In New York, the drummers rush for a reason - because there's so much energy crackling through everything in that city and so many collisions at a highly accelerated rate. "
Kurt Elling
City
Reason
New
" I want to be the jazz singer. "
Kurt Elling
Singer
Jazz
Want