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" There is an actor's responsibility in presenting the emotional content of the lyrics to an audience. But whether you do that in a straightforward fashion or an ironic fashion or a blase fashion is all about opportunities, and singers are missing opportunities as artists if they don't pay attention to the lyric. "

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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

Mess

" 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. "

" 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. "

" It's true that I'm not known as a crooner or balladeer. I'm known for a more crusading or quixotic temperament. "

" My intellect was quickened at divinity school, and my abilities to discern were strengthened, and that's always valuable. "

" 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. "

" Why limit yourself to one discipline or field of study? "

" It's a lovely thing to have people in any circumstance appreciate your work. "

" There are incredible musicians around the world. "

" 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. "

" I think I make most of my decisions pretty organically. "

" 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. "

" A lot of people are put off by the idea of scat singing. Either that or it's something to be made fun of. "

" At a certain point, the graduate school thing didn't work out, and that meant I was liberated. "

" I don't really have a more intellectualized approach. After the fact, I can sure talk about stuff a lot - but when I make decisions, I really just follow what sounds good to me. "

Kurt Elling

Decisions

I Can

" 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. "

" With a smaller setting, you have a lot more freedom and flexibility within a given moment, but not necessarily the velocity you have with a big band. "

" You learn as much as you can from the people that you work with. That's why you want to surround yourself with the heaviest people that you can possibly get to. "

" I spend upwards of 200 nights a year on the road. "

" If you're going to be transparent, you're going to have to let the music come that wants to come. "

" If I was going to sell out, I would do it for more than 10,000 records. "

Kurt Elling

Going

Out

" As improvisers, we're acting as composers in front of people. "

" Salacious? I suppose every once in a while the salacious thing is not a bad thing. It's kind of monochromatic if that's all you do. "

" There's a wide spectrum of possibilities in how to deliver a song. "

" Listening to something without being present is different from being there in the flesh. "

" I think of jazz as being homage through innovation. Don't quote that as a definition, but it comes pretty close. "

" If you start to dwell on your pain, the amount of pain will increase. "

" I try to sleep as much as I can. I drink a lot of water. I practice consistently and just try to be ready for the gig. "

" I couldn't do what I do without the encouragement and influence of the musicians I played with in Chicago. "