How did we get to thinking recorded music is the same as live music? That listening in a one-way receiving relationship through streaming, radio, television is the same experience as being present to living music through all the senses?
It is easy to ask that after experiencing Kurt Elling live last night at the Performing Arts Centre in St. Catharines. Big presence, big voice in a shiny silk suit. Bringing us the earlier days of Jazz and today's music. His facial features have some similarities to Richard Nixon's - as we wanted Richard Nixon to be.
I looked up the concert tour, as he made a point of describing it as packed - upcoming concerts in the 2020-2021 tour zig zag all over the place. Next week he's in Miami, the week after in Palm Desert, then Indiana, Pittsburg, and back to Markham in April.
His concert tour will switch over in April - to the new recording "Secrets Are The Best Stories" with pianist Danilo Perez. I expect this will be a change from what we enjoyed - lots of scat singing, some Swingle Singers styling, crooning like Frank Sinatra, and revising lyrics liberally (Pennies from Heaven became Benny's from Heaven - based on the intro of a war veteran who returns home to find his wife with Baby Benny, and when he asks where is Benny from? She says: From Heaven...Benny's From Heaven). The finale was an extended version of Nature Boy - a mesmerizing interpretation of this already haunting song and lyrics.
I checked around to find out what writers put in print about his singing and style. Only a few brave writers put words to paper - the less brave give background facts from his website (if you ask me):
- Renowned for his singular combination of robust swing and poetic insight
- Elling’s rich, chewy baritone – and his easy-swinging, ring-a-ding-ding delivery on the Great American Songbook
- it’s about the groove he creates on stage
I mention the live performance experience - Elling has something to say about this:
I was lucky enough to go to the clubs. I realised, oh my goodness, there’s a whole culture around this: men and women living this life. That’s when I found out it was a living entity.
"Kurt Elling takes the jazz singer’s travel truism to a longitudinal and latitudinal extreme. Where most jazz singers tour, Elling traverses the globe."
So I guess the lesson from yesterday is straight-forward: spend more time at live events.
No comments:
Post a Comment