2 SHOWTIMES | 6:00PM & 8:00PM
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KURT ELLING & JOEY CALDERAZZO
Jazz Coterie live music concert series presents Grammy-winning vocalist Kurt Elling with pianist Joey Calderazzo at our pop-up jazz club in Wisconsin’s Fox Cities.
Renowned for his singular combination of robust swing and poetic insight, two-time GRAMMY winner Kurt Elling has secured his place among the world’s foremost jazz vocalists. Over a twenty-five year career of touring and recording, Elling has won three Prix du Jazz Vocal (France), two German Echo Awards, two Dutch Edison Awards, and has been nominated for a GRAMMY award fifteen times. He has had a 14-year run atop the DownBeat Critics and Readers polls, and has won twelve Jazz Journalists Awards for “Male Vocalist of the Year”.
“The standout male vocalist of our time.”
Kurt Elling’s voice is instantly recognizable, embracing listeners with his warm, rich baritone and navigating the full span of his four-octave range as a virtuoso improvisor and a compelling storyteller. The Guardian (UK) has named Kurt Elling, “a kind of Sinatra with superpowers,” and, “one of jazz’s all-time great vocalists.”
Elling has recorded and toured with Branford Marsalis, Danilo Perez, Stefon Harris, Fred Hersch, James Morrison, and Charlie Hunter. He has performed extensively with larger ensembles like The Clayton/Hamilton Orchestra, The National Youth Orchestra (led by Sean Jones), The Bob Mintzer Big Band, The BBC Concert Symphony (led by Guy Barker) The Metropole Orchestra (Holland), The Irish Radio and Television Orchestra (led by Brian Byrne), The Scottish National Jazz Orchestra, and The WDR Orchestra and Big Band (Germany).
Elling’s dynamism is enhanced exponentially by the fact that he consistently generates new vocal material by writing and recording signature and definitive lyrics to the compositions of foundational jazz composers like John Coltrane, Keith Jarrett, Pat Metheny, Jaco Pastorius, Wayne Shorter, and Joe Zawinul. Additionally, Kurt Elling has co-created multi-disciplinary performances for Chicago’s Steppenwolf Theater and The City of Chicago. Jazz At Lincoln Center saw the world premier of The Big Blind, an entirely new jazz musical-in-progress Elling is co-writing with collaborator Phil Galdston (“Save The Best For Last”). National Poet Laureate Robert Pinsky declared that, “In Kurt Elling’s art, the voice of jazz gives new spiritual presence to the ancient, sweet and powerful bond between poetry and music.”
“Since the mid-1990s, no singer in jazz has been as daring, dynamic or interesting as Kurt Elling.”
Elling has toured the world in a variety of contexts, including UNESCO-sponsored “International Jazz Day” performances in Havana, Cuba, in St. Petersburg, Russia, in Melbourne, Australia and in Washington DC. He has twice performed at the White House, including a performance in collaboration with the late Marvin Hamlisch and the National Symphony Orchestra for President Obama’s first State Dinner. He has served as Artist-In-Residence at the Monterey and Singapore Jazz Festivals. As a music industry leader, Elling spent six years serving as a Trustee and two years as Vice Chairman of The National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences.
About Joey Calderazzo
One of the finest pianists of his generation, having recorded thirteen albums as a leader, Joey Calderazzo has traveled the road from child prodigy to in-demand session musician to elite member of the finest ensembles in jazz. He's accompanied the music's geniuses, from Michael Brecker and Branford Marsalis to Jack DeJohnette and Dave Holland. Throughout his journey, Calderazzo has boldly explored his own psyche and his place in the world, as a composer, improvisor, band member, and leader.
Joey began studying classical piano at age eight. His brother, Gene, got him interested in jazz. He studied with Richard Beirach and in the 1980s continued his studies at Berklee College of Music and the Manhattan School of Music. At the same time, he was playing professionally with David Liebman and Frank Foster.
Early in his career, Joey produced groundbreaking records with saxophone legend Michael Brecker and solo recordings on Blue Note Records. Calderazzo's perennial trio has recorded multiple albums, including 1993's The Traveler (with John Patitucci and Jay Anderson (bass); Peter Erskine and Jeff Hirshfield (drums)), 1997s Simply Music (Sylvain Gagnon, bass; Jeff "Tain" Watts, drums); 1999's Joey Calderazzo (John Patitucci, bass; Jeff "Tain" Watts, drums); 2011's Live (Orlando le Fleming, bass; Donald Edwards, drums); 2015's Going Home (Orlando le Fleming, bass; Adam Cruz, drums); and his most recent release, Live from The Cotton Club Tokyo, Volume 1.
Calderazzo's breadth and depth as a pianist is astounding. A single solo, either with his trio or Branford Marsalis' Quartet, can allude to myriad generations of jazz piano giants, filtered through his keen, hard-swinging lens and joyous touch.