American - Musician | November 2, 1967 -
I can't say New York's home, but I've made a lot of friends, and I'm developing a map of what cats are here and where they play, and as a singer, you're always looking for projects that tie things in emotionally and intuitively with your life.
Kurt Elling
LifeHomeCatsLookingFriendsYou
I couldn't do what I do without the encouragement and influence of the musicians I played with in Chicago.
InfluenceMusiciansEncouragement
Karl Johnson, my first piano player at Milt Trenier's, he just swung really hard and gave me a sense of really belonging to the jazz scene.
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Chicago is my home. And the way Chicago sounds will always be a part of who I am.
HomeI AmChicagoWillWayAlways
The great jazz and jazz-influenced singers carry themselves with a certain panache and a certain elegance and, for lack of a better word, self-confidence.
GreatBetterEleganceSelf-Confidence
I spend upwards of 200 nights a year on the road.
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Audiences have taught me how to sing better and entertain better.
MeBetterSingHowTaughtEntertain
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.
FreedomMomentYouMoreBandWithin
You can never predict what the specific shape of your life is going to be, and you won't really know its general shape until, God willing, you're advanced in years and you have the time and opportunity to look back in a coherent way and see what your life was about.
LifeGodOpportunityTimeYouLook
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.
YouBadKindOnceEveryThing
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.
MindEnoughYouKnowTrueWay
I think of jazz as being homage through innovation. Don't quote that as a definition, but it comes pretty close.
InnovationThinkJazzThroughPretty
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