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" People want to have access to jazz because it has a vibe that's very strong. "
Kurt Elling
Strong
Because
Jazz
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" Chicago has a burly, action-oriented but still self-assured and relaxed confidence to its stride. The city has a lot of wide-open space and all the possibilities that suggests. There's a lot of horizontal grandeur here. "
Kurt Elling
Space
Possibilities
Confidence
" 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
" That's the thing: There are so many art songs in jazz. It's a much more rich experience for the singer than people think. "
Kurt Elling
Experience
Think
Art
" I've worked with a number of big bands, but there's nothing in life like the Basie band. "
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Big
Number
Nothing
" It must be a hellish thing to know what's possible in music, to be hearing things all the time and not have an appropriate outlet for them. "
Kurt Elling
Time
Know
Possible
" Part of my joy as a singer is to give gifts to people, and one way I try to connect to them is to add something in French or German or whatever. "
Kurt Elling
Singer
Gifts
Joy
" 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 consider myself very fortunate. I have a beautiful wife who supports my work and is raising our daughter when I'm out on the road. "
Kurt Elling
Wife
Myself
Beautiful
" I try to stick with things that I can sing with honesty. "
Kurt Elling
Honesty
I Can
Stick
" I'm a jazz musician, and I really wanted to not miss an opportunity to have the full connection to jazz. "
Kurt Elling
Jazz
Miss
Connection
" I'm lucky that I enjoy touring as much as I do. I'm not going to make a living just making records. "
Kurt Elling
Enjoy
Just
Going
" I'm a goof, man. "
Kurt Elling
Man
Goof
" I've tried to educate myself in the world and what's beautiful and what has meaning and is lasting. Then I just follow my intuition and see how it fits. "
Kurt Elling
Beautiful
Meaning
Myself
" 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. "
Kurt Elling
Mind
You
Enough
" I've tried to learn as much as I can about the great jazz singers to understand what makes them important, vital artists, but there is always something more to learn. "
Kurt Elling
Jazz
Learn
Important
" You can start from any source material, and you can approach it with a jazz ear, and then it will become a jazz moment. "
Kurt Elling
Will
Jazz
Moment
" A lot of people are put off by the idea of scat singing. Either that or it's something to be made fun of. "
Kurt Elling
Off
Fun
Something
" I think I make most of my decisions pretty organically. "
Kurt Elling
Pretty
I Think
Most
" I'd been studying philosophy at the University of Chicago. I hadn't been doing well, because I was sitting in with jazz musicians at night - it's hard to read Heidegger, but it's especially hard if you're half asleep. "
Kurt Elling
Jazz
Doing
Musicians
" I want to be the jazz singer. "
Kurt Elling
Singer
Jazz
Want
" I haven't been afraid of John Coltrane or Miles Davis or Bill Evans or Wayne Shorter or Herbie Hancock. Why would I be afraid of the Beatles? "
Kurt Elling
Would
Miles
Beatles
" 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
" Audiences have taught me how to sing better and entertain better. "
Kurt Elling
Sing
Me
Taught
" 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
" I'm a guy who has more slapstick than Joe Cool moments in his day, so I'm not taking myself so seriously. "
Kurt Elling
Myself
Day
Moments
" Chicago is my home. And the way Chicago sounds will always be a part of who I am. "
Kurt Elling
Way
Will
Always
" My strength is to communicate with an audience and to know what jazz singing is capable of. "
Kurt Elling
Know
Strength
Audience
" I hope to be at the top of my game when I'm 65 or 70. I don't want to reach my peak at 29. Not that I'm holding back anything, but there's a bunch of junk I don't know. "
Kurt Elling
Know
Want
Reach
" It helps me to learn things in different languages, even if it's just phonetically, and to make myself vulnerable to other audiences by trying to reflect back to them the genius of their own cultures, and to do that, oftentimes, in new jazz settings, new arrangements. It's a way to show respect. "
Kurt Elling
Myself
Respect
Own
" I spend upwards of 200 nights a year on the road. "
Kurt Elling
Spend
Road
Nights