Katherine McVickerMUSIC WORKS INTERNATIONAL

info@musicworksinternational.com Tel: +01 781 300 7580 Fax: +01 781 942 8858 www.musicworksinternational.com

“For the four musicians, playing throughout the set was a visceral, whole-body endeavour, profoundly stimulating and deeply fun...[the Marsalis Quartet] raised the roof of the venue with tunes that reached cathartic heights of intensity.” THE OTTAWA CITIZEN

“Elling’s rich, chewy baritone – and his easy-swinging, ring-a-ding-ding delivery on the Great American Songbook – often recalls Frank Sinatra. But his staggering jazz chops turn him into a kind of Sinatra with

superpowers.” THE GUARDIAN [UK]

In an unprecedented collaboration, the BRANFORD MARSALIS QUARTET brings in vocalist KURT ELLING, as a rare addition to the rock-solid lineup of Joey Calderazzo, Eric Revis, and Justin Faulkner. Both parties are known for a wealth of jazz knowledge and stylistic versatility. Elling recently won a Grammy Award for his tribute to the famed collabora-tion between saxophonist John Coltrane and vocalist Johnny Hartman. Marsalis, too, is a flexible and ambitious artist; best known as a prolific jazz leader and sideman to such icons as Miles Davis, Art Blakey, and Dizzy Gillespie, he is also renowned for his work in classical music and for crossover collaborations with artists including Sting and The Grateful Dead. Energized by the artistic promise of this collaboration, the band members have all contributed new tunes to per-form with this special line-up and will be looking beyond the Great American Songbook. Although following the format of a standard jazz quartet with vocals, the collaboration between jazz’s most intense band and one of jazz’s foremost singer should prove to be anything but standard.

BRANFORD MARSALIS QUARTET

with special guest

KURT ELLING

Katherine McVickerMUSIC WORKS INTERNATIONAL

info@musicworksinternational.com Tel: +01 781 300 7580 Fax: +01 781 942 8858 www.musicworksinternational.com

It is no secret that the BRANFORD MARSALIS

QUARTET can be as freewheeling off the bandstand

as in performance. Saxophonist Marsalis, pianist Joey

Calderazzo, bassist Eric Revis and drummer Justin

Faulkner are each bold personalities with strong

opinions, equally intense in both musical and verbal

exchanges. “One topic we got into was picking the best

singer to work with our band,” Marsalis recalls. “My

candidate was KURT ELLING, because he has the most

flexible voice around, is always in tune and is a true jazz

musician.”

What has emerged, after an intense week of performance

and recording in New Orleans, is a project that blends

Songbook staples, jazz standards, and standards-to-be

from a diverse array of composers. From the outset, this

was to create a true partnership melding Elling with the

Quartet as an equal part of the whole. “The goal here,

even though he sings lyrics, was to highlight Kurt’s voice

as an instrument,” said Marsalis. Elling was more than

prepared for the challenge. “I love singing with a hard-

hitting band,” he confirms, “and I’ve spent so much

time trying to be with excellent tenor players...I didn’t

want Branford’s band to feel that it had to hold back

because a singer was there. To be welcomed into the

Quartet’s circle, which is all about new challenges and

hard blowing, was very important to me. When I asked

Branford what to bring about a week before the date, he

said ‘Don’t worry, you’ve got the thing.’ So I brought ‘the

thing.’”

KURT ELLING on MWI.COM | KURTELLING.COM

BRANFORDMARSALIS.COM