Kurt Elling

Grammy nominated and critically-acclaimed vocalist Kurt Elling will release Dedicated to You: Kurt Elling Sings the Music of Coltrane and Hartman. The live collection was recorded in January 2009 in Manhattan as part of Lincoln Center's American Songbook series. The 12-track release features an all-star cast of musicians including saxophonist Ernie Watts, the Laurence Hobgood Trio and the string quartet, ETHEL.

Dedicated to You: Kurt Elling Sings the Music of Coltrane and Hartman is a stunning spectrum of music, both vocal and instrumental. The album opens with an introductory interpretation of the American Songbook classic, "All or Nothing At All," in which the interconnectedness between Elling's vocal and Watt's tenor saxophone calls up immediate references to the Coltrane/Hartman source. The transformative interpretations of songs such as "Autumn Serenade," "Nancy With the Laughing Face" and "You Are Too Beautiful" are definitive examples of how to remain true to the inner essence of a song.

"When you hear any of those great masters - like Coltrane - and realize the incredible gift from God that is given to those people, you can't overstate their importance to the jazz world, to the world in general. And we were very much aware of that fact as we put all this together," remarked Elling.

Since Elling has been touring with Dedicated To You, the project has received critical praise. The Chicago Tribune called it "...some of the best ballad singing being performed today." The New York Times said, "Mr. Elling has proved his finesse as a Hartman-like melodist...accessing both Coltrane and Hartman, he sounded like no one but himself." Throughout his career Elling has earned eight Grammy nominations, top spot placement in the Down Beat Critics' and Jazz Times Readers' polls, four Jazz Journalists Association wins for Best Male Vocalist and the Prix Billie Holiday from the Academe du Jazz in Paris.