An established friend of the Scottish National Jazz Orchestra, Chicago-born Elling has chosen music by some of the greatest and most popular songwriters and composers of the past seventy years for his latest visit to Scotland.
Big band classics by Duke Ellington and Count Basie and show tunes by Rodgers & Hart are represented, as are pop songs by the Police and Joe Jackson, whose 1982 transatlantic hit, Steppin’ Out gives these concerts their name.
“Kurt Elling is a phenomenon,” says SNJO Artistic Director Tommy Smith. “Since 2012 he has collaborated with us on a series of captivating and diverse programmes. From honouring the legendary Frank Sinatra to crafting the seasonal spiritual experience of Spirit of Light and delving into profound philosophical themes in works such as Apparition Bridge and Syntopicon, Elling’s artistic vision knows no bounds.”
Recognition for Elling’s talents has been plentiful. In the US he has won two Grammy Awards, having been nominated sixteen times, and he topped the prestigious Downbeat magazine Critics Poll on fourteen consecutive occasions from 2000 to 2013, subsequently adding to this success. He has also won three Prix du Jazz Vocal in France, two German Echo Awards, two Dutch Edison Awards and the International Jazz Artist of the Year title at the Jazz FM Awards.
“As well as putting his own stamp on established songs including, in these concerts, Come Fly with Me and You Are Too Beautiful, Elling has written definitive lyrics for tunes by jazz masters including saxophonist Wayne Shorter, pianist-composer Carla Bley and the revolutionary bassist Jaco Pastorius,” says Smith. “We’re looking forward to delivering these with him in vibrant orchestral arrangements.”
The tour begins in Elgin Town Hall on Thursday 26th September as part of Findhorn Bay Arts Festival and continues in Perth Concert Hall on Friday 27th, Glasgow Royal Concert Hall on Saturday 28th and Queen’s Hall, Edinburgh on Sunday 29th.
“This is a really exciting way to open our 2024/25 season,” says Smith. “Working with Kurt Elling is always inspiring and his choice of material for these concerts is sure to stimulate our audiences and musicians alike. Steppin’ Out promises both the reassuringly familiar and, as jazz was once famously described, the sound of surprise.”