Elling

Big Shoulders Records announces the return of two-time GRAMMY® winner Kurt Elling and guitarist Charlie Hunter with SuperBlue: Guilty Pleasures Vol. 2, the latest installment in their creative partnership.

Passion World is the fifth Concord album (and eleventh overall) from vocalist Kurt Elling, living up to its title on both counts. It is indeed his most "worldly" album to date, as Elling casts his net far and wide, from Brazil to Ireland, Germany to France, Scotland to Cuba to Iceland. Guests include the brilliant veteran trumpeter Cuban émigré Arturo Sandoval; the widely lauded young vocalist Sara Gazarek; German trumpet star Till Brönner; French accordion virtuoso Richard Galliano; the Scottish National Jazz Orchestra and the world-renowned WDR Big Band and Orchestra from Germany.

SuperBlue: The Iridescent Spree is the highly anticipated followup to the 2021 GRAMMY nominated eponymous album, by genre-bending trailblazers Kurt Elling & Charlie Hunter. Joining forces with multi-instrumentalist duo drummer Corey Fonville and bassist-keyboardist DJ Harrison (of Richmond, VA-based jazz-funk fusion quintet Butcher Brown) for a kaleidoscopic collection of new songs, surprising covers, and dynamic reinventions, these are all animated by crafty production, crack musicianship, and Elling’s instantly identifiable vocal prowess. If the first album was a somewhat radical departure for Elling, SuperBlue: The Iridescent Spree is more of an exquisite progression upon the template.

Legendary jazz greats Branford Marsalis and Kurt Elling collaborate for the first time on a full album, Upward Spiral. They ve been talking for a while about making a record together, and finally at the end of 2015 it all came together. They found time to play the new material in the New Orleans Snug Harbor club for four days and then recorded a variety of songs in the studio, all chosen because of their melodic richness and musical quality. Their versions of the chosen material are simply incredible, as the musicality of Branford and Kurt and their deep understanding of these songs shows through immediately.

Kurt Elling (born November 2, 1967) is an American jazz singer and songwriter.

Recorded whilst the band were on tour in 2021, this new live EP features select cuts from the original Grammy-nominated SuperBlue album and demonstrates Kurt’s band really hitting their stride.