If nothing else, Kurt Elling is adventurous. The good thing is that there is something else besides his sense of adventure. Here, he teams up with Branford Marsalis’ team of Joey Calderazzo/p, Eric Revis/b and Justin Faulkner/dr for a rich and varied collection of tunes and moods.
The team gets boppy as Marsalis’ soprano plays jai alai with Elling on the swinging “There’s A Bot Dat’s Leaving For New York” and they go from calm to dramatic on “From One Island to Another.’ Elling and Marsalis’ tenor sound like the Ellington reed section as they create a velvet carpet on the intro to “Blue Gardenia” and get even more personal when they duet on a dreamy and desultory “I’m A Fool To Want You.”
Elling gives a tip of the beret to his early career days of beat poetry as he extrapolates on “Momma Said” and gets hep to be hip on a take or Sonny Rollins’ “Doxy” with the team snapping with delight. Calderazzo is dreamy with Elling on “Practical Arrangement” and the whole team goes soto voce on a visceral take of the 60s pop hit “Blue Velvet.” Elling is in rich tone and sounds comfy in every mood and a master of all, even on the upbeat, cheerful and ready for radio title track. This is a vocal dream!
Okeh Records