One of the world’s leading jazz singers, Kurt Elling joins internationally acclaimed saxophonist Tommy Smith and the Scottish National Jazz Orchestra (SNJO) for a four-date tour of Scotland from Thursday 18 to Sunday 21 November.
Chicago-born Elling, who has won two Grammy awards and been nominated a further fifteen times, has been described by the New York Times as “the stand-out male singer of our time.” He has also topped the prestigious Downbeat magazine critics and readers polls for fourteen consecutive years.
Tommy Smith, the SNJO’s founder and artistic director, says:
Few singers in the world bring to bear the unique combination of artistic depth, intellectual breadth and soulful delivery that our friend Kurt Elling does.
Over four previous tours and appearances together at London Jazz Festival and leading the European festival, Jazz sous les Pommiers, in France, Elling and the SNJO have developed a strong partnership that has brought audiences to their feet with a repertoire ranging from swinging Frank Sinatra classics to interpretations of more contemporary material and items from the praise song canon.
For this all-new concert series — exclusive to Scotland — the team will perform freshly-conceived arrangements and recently composed lyrics to the works of Europe’s most exciting contemporary composers; including Norwegian saxophonist Jan Garbarek, Danish bassist Anne Mette Iversen, France-based Ivorian drummer Anna Pacéo, and the late Swedish pianist and leader of the popular, trailblazing EST group, Esbjörn Svennson.
This project promises to reconnect us all through music as we span the ethereal chasms between the ancient and the future, between sorrow and joy, and between time and timelessness. The combination of talents at work, including the searching eloquence of saxophone master Tommy Smith and the superb SNJO provides the makings of a powerful and unique musical regrouping. ~ Kurt Elling
The tour opens at the Queen’s Hall, Edinburgh on Thursday November 18th and continues at Perth Concert Hall (Friday 19th), Glasgow Royal Concert Hall (Saturday 20th) and Aberdeen Music Hall (Sunday 21st).