Kurt Elling – Passion World is Simply Genius!
Kurt Elling is a genius…it’s that simple!
Passion World is his fifth Concord album (and eleventh overall) and it lives up to the album’s title drawing a passionate vocal performance from Kurt. His masterful control of his own voice is at times simply breathtaking. How does he sing with such control?
This is his most worldly album to date, as Elling casts his net far and wide, from Brazil to Ireland, Germany to Spain, Scotland to Cuba to Iceland. And it is indeed all about ‘passions’ – the forces that shake our souls. Standout tracks include ‘The Loch Tay Boat Song’, and a gorgeous reading of Björk’s ‘Who Is (Carry My Joy On The Left Carry My Pain On The Right)’ and his take on U2’s ‘Where The Streets Have No Name’
Kurt is one of the busiest touring jazz artists, and has encountered these passions around the world; he has observed how the same depth of feeling is shaped in different ways by each unique culture through which it is filtered. The result is an album vibrant with diversity and variety, and at the same time a singular celebration of what makes us all human. In terms of its conceptual scope and its breadth of influences,
Passion World is the most ambitious project yet from the preeminent male vocalist in jazz. It is also Elling’s most star-studded album, featuring a small battalion of guest collaborators working in tandem with the singer’s much-traveled quintet (keyboardist Gary Versace, guitarist John McLean, bassist Clark Sommers, drummer Kendrick Scott). The guests include the brilliant veteran trumpeter Cuban émigré Arturo Sandoval; the widely lauded young vocalist Sara Gazarek; German trumpet star Till Brönner; French accordion virtuoso Richard Galliano; the Scottish National Jazz Orchestra and its founder-leader, saxophone savant Tommy Smith; and the world-renowned WDR Big Band and Orchestra from Germany, featuring pianist Frank Chastenier.
In celebration of the release of the album Kurt has devised a competition. Kurt invites you to enter his View From My Window contest. Grand prize is a custom-made, autographed copy of Passion World – with your photo! Snap the view from your window – at work, at home, or somewhere special. Upload it to Instagram or Twitter with the hashtag #KurtEllingVFMW & then fill out the official entry form. Limited to 1 entry/person. Deadline is July 13, 2015. Please share widely & then hit us with your best shot from your favourite window!
Details and competition entry form:
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