| Man in the Air | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by Kurt Elling | ||||
| Released | July 22, 2003 | |||
| Recorded | January 13–17, 2003 | |||
| Studio | CRC, Chicago | |||
| Genre | Vocal jazz | |||
| Label | Blue Note | |||
| Producer | Kurt Elling, Laurence Hobgood with Bill Traut | |||
| Kurt Elling chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic |   [1] |
| Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings | [2] |
| PopMatters | (not rated) [3] |
Man in the Air is the sixth album by jazz vocalist Kurt Elling, recorded and released in 2003 by Blue Note Records.
As for all the previous albums Elling is accompanied by a piano trio led by his musical partner Laurence Hobgood, bassist Rob Amster and with Frank Parker Jr. a new drummer again. Paul Wertico, formerly behind the drum set, is only heard on the first track. The "sonic idea" for the album was to add vibraphonist Stefon Harris who appears now on several tracks and is named on the album cover. [4] Furthermore soprano saxophonists Jim Gailloreto and Brad Wheeler perform as guest musicians. On some tracks Elling uses overdubs of his voice.
Seven of the twelve tracks are adaptations of originally instrumental compositions to which Elling wrote lyrics to, most prominently John Coltrane's "Resolution" from his epic cycle A Love Supreme. Besides "Resolution" and "A Secret I", i.e. Herbie Hancock's "Alone and I" from his debut Takin' Off, the entry track "Minuano" written by Pat Metheny and Lyle Mays (from Metheny's Still Life (Talking) ) formed the basic material for Man in the Air, [4] initially should have been the opener for This Time It's Love, but the label convinced the musicians that it did not fit the album's character, it was "too futurist for this side" as Elling put it in hindsight. [5]
The other compositions Elling and Hobgood adapted were by Joe Zawinul ("Time to Say Goodbye", i.e. "A Remark You Made" from Heavy Weather ), Courtney Pine ("Higher Vibe" from Underground ) and Bobby Watson ("Hidden Jewel" from Jewel). The last track of the album, "All Is Quiet", a duo by Elling and Hobgood, is a composition by Bob Mintzer, who already recorded the song together with Elling in 1998 on The Yellowjackets album Club Nocturne and in 2002 with the Bob Mintzer Big Band (Live at MCG with Special Guest Kurt Elling).
"This is perhaps the jazz vocal album of the last decade. Almost ten years on from his debut, Elling delivers a bold and accomplished performance, marked by highly original choice of material and some devastating playing from his regular band", write Richard Cook and Brian Morton in their Penguin Guide to Jazz. "Elling's scat and his delivery of a ballad are now so confident that he is able to take on material like John Coltrane's 'Resolution' and bring to it a genuine philosophical understanding as well as a musically coherent performance." In 2006 they concluded: "This is a remarkable record, as accessible as it is challenging." [2] In their definitive Penguin Jazz Guide from 2010 they did not change any of the review but went even further closing: "It is so good, it's almost sinful." [6]
Thom Jurek of AllMusic is equally eloquent in his praise and stresses too Elling's mature interpretation of "Resolution" while also recognizing "a new way" for listeners to access the composer John Coltrane. And like Cook and Morton he sees the importance of Laurence Hobgood: "Hobgood is a criminally under-recognized pianist. His sense of harmonic architecture and melodic invention are among the most innovative of the current grown-up generation of jazz players, and his allowance for space and nuance acts as a perfect foil for Elling's rigorous restructuring of intervals and cadences." [1]
Howard Reich of the Chicago Tribune praised the album as one of the year's very best, writing that "the luster of Elling’s vocals, the nimbleness of his scat technique, the plaintive quality of his lyrics and the ingenuity of his vocalese reaffirm Elling’s position as the pre-eminent male vocalist of the under-40 generation." [7]
Man in the Air received a Grammy Award for Best Jazz Vocal Album, the sixth successive nomination in that category since Elling's debut and seventh nomination in total. [8]
Paul Wertico is an American drummer. He gained recognition as a member of the Pat Metheny Group from 1983 until 2001, leaving the group to spend more time with his family and to pursue other musical interests.
Kurt Elling is an American jazz singer and songwriter.
First Circle is the fourth studio album by the Pat Metheny Group recorded over four days in February 1984 and released on ECM later that year. Metheny is joined by Lyle Mays on keyboards, Steve Rodby on bass, Paul Wertico on drums, and Pedro Aznar on vocals, percussion, and guitar. First Circle won the Grammy Award for Best Jazz Fusion Performance.
We Live Here is the seventh studio album by the Pat Metheny Group. It won the Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Jazz Album in 1996. The DVD was recorded at Gotanda U-Port Hall, Tokyo, Japan, in October 1995.
Imaginary Day is the ninth studio album by the Pat Metheny Group. It was released in 1997 by Warner Bros. Records. The album was strongly inspired by world music from Iran and Indonesia, and won the 1999 Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Jazz Album. The song "The Roots of Coincidence" won a Grammy Award for Best Rock Instrumental Performance; critic Richard Ginnell of AllMusic described the song as a dramatic departure for the group: "[an] out-and-out rock piece with thrash metal and techno-pop episodes joined by abrupt jump cuts."
Still Life (Talking) is the fifth studio album by the Pat Metheny Group. It was released in 1987 on Geffen Records. It won the Grammy Award for Best Jazz Fusion Performance and was certified gold by the RIAA on July 2, 1992.
Secret Story is an album by Pat Metheny, released in 1992. It won the Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Jazz Album in 1993. All of the music is composed by Metheny, and it is one of his most ambitious studio ventures, integrating elements of jazz, rock, and world music. On the performing side, it includes collaborations with the Pinpeat Orchestra of the Royal Ballet of Cambodia, the London Orchestra and its conductor Jeremy Lubbock, the Choir of the Cambodian Royal Palace, legendary harmonica player Toots Thielemans, and keyboardist Lyle Mays from Pat Metheny Group.
Minuano is a cold southwesterly wind that blows in the southern Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul and in Uruguay. It has the same name of the indigenous Minuane people in the Portuguese language. It is widely mentioned in the Gaúcho folklore of the region. This wind originates from cold polar fronts that come from the southwest of South America during periods of high atmospheric pressure, usually following rains caused by the shock of the cold front with warmer stationary humid air. Sometimes it produces a "howling" sound.
Nightmoves is a 2007 jazz album by vocalist Kurt Elling. It was the first Elling album to be released by Concord Records.
The Road to You is the second live album by the Pat Metheny Group that won the Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Jazz Performance.
Live in Chicago is a 1999 live album by jazz vocalist Kurt Elling. It was Elling's first live album, recorded over two nights in 1999 at Chicago's Green Mill jazz club. Vocalist and composer Jon Hendricks appears on two tracks, "Don't Get Scared" and "Goin' to Chicago." "The Rent Party" features Elling's interplay with three tenor saxophonists, Von Freeman, Ed Petersen and Eddie Johnson. In addition, percussionist Kahil El'Zabar is featured on two tracks.
Dedicated to You: Kurt Elling Sings the Music of Coltrane and Hartman is a 2009 live album by Kurt Elling, recorded at the Lincoln Center's American Songbook series.
The Gate is a 2011 studio album by Kurt Elling, produced by Don Was. on November 30, 2011, the album received a Nomination in 54th Grammy Awards for Best Jazz Vocal Album.
Flirting with Twilight is a 2001 studio album by Kurt Elling. It continues in the direction of his previous studio album, This Time It's Love, focusing mostly on ballad material.
This Time It's Love is a 1998 studio album by jazz vocalist Kurt Elling, accompanied as usual by Laurence Hobgood on piano, Rob Amster on bass, and on drums Michael Raynor, who replaces Paul Wertico for the most part. On five of the twelve tracks guest musicians were invited, like guitarist David Onderdonk or Chicagoan veteran jazz musicians, violinist Johnny Frigo and Eddie Johnson. Hobgood and Elling co-produced the recording with Wertigo as associate. Elling's third album was again released on the Blue Note label, which initially asked him "to do something more on the romantic side", as Elling writes in the liner notes. The album's repertoire is predominantly standard material with two songs added that were already played by the band, the lauded "Freddie's Yen for Jen" and McCoy Tyner's "My Love, Effendi" with lyrics by Elling, and "Where I Belong", another original. The bossa nova classic "Rosa Morena" by Dorival Caymmi is the first song Kurt Elling recorded in a foreign language, accompanied here just by acoustic guitar and bass.
The Messenger is the second studio album by Kurt Elling. Like Close Your Eyes the album was released by Blue Note, the production credits lie with pianist Laurence Hobgood, Elling himself and drummer Paul Wertico as co-producer. Hobgood, bassist Rob Amster and Wertico are co-billed on the album cover, establishing the piano trio –led by Hobgood up to 1619 Broadway from 2012– as the singers core backing. Amster and Wertico are nevertheless replaced on some tracks by Eric Hochberg and percussionist Jim Widlowski. A further voice is added on half of the tracks, trumpet player Orbert Davis, tenor saxophonists Edward Petersen or Eddie Johnson, and on one track literally, with Cassandra Wilson on "Time of the Season". On this song and part of the so-called 'Suite' one can also hear a guitarist, who unfortunately is not mentioned in the album credits. Besides The Zombies 1967 hit The Messenger introduces "Nature Boy" to Ellings' repertoire, two further jazz standards, an interpretation of Jimmy Heath' "Gingerbread Boy", played even more aggressive and faster as Miles Davis, and "Tanya" written by Donald Byrd, who recorded the tune only once in 1964 for Dexter Gordon's album One Flight Up. The song is informed by an ostinato of moody open chords played on piano resolved occasionally by a rather conventional hard bop theme. All other tracks are penned by the musicians themselves or even improvised like "It's Just a Thing" accompanying a story Elling declaims.
Close Your Eyes is the debut studio album by Kurt Elling, released in 1995.
1619 Broadway: The Brill Building Project is a 2012 album by Kurt Elling, recorded as a tribute to the songwriters of the Brill Building in New York City.
Invitation is the third album by Jaco Pastorius, released in December 1983. This is a live album recorded at various venues during a tour of Japan in September 1982, featuring his "Word of Mouth" big band. While his debut album showcased his eclectic and impressive skills on the electric bass, both Invitation and his previous album, Word of Mouth focused more on his ability to arrange for a larger band.
Laurence Hobgood is an American contemporary jazz pianist, composer, arranger, producer, lyricist and educator. Perhaps best known for his twenty-year collaboration with vocalist Kurt Elling, he is identified by many as a key player in the imaginative updating of the "American Songbook", particularly in his arranging for vocalists.
