Kurt Elling is considered one of the most innovative jazz singers in recent years. He puts his unique stamp on each song he performs. Born in Chicago in 1967, Elling studied music as a child and was exposed to jazz in college, joining student combos. After graduating divinity school, he began performing jazz professionally in Chicago clubs in the early 1990s. Elling released his debut album Close Your Eyes in 1995 with Blue Note Records, receiving a Grammy nomination, and has since released multiple acclaimed albums and won a Grammy with Concord Jazz Records, cementing his status as a leading jazz artist.

1. Kurt Ellingby: Colin Farabaugh "Kurt Elling is arguably the most interesting and innovative jazz singer to come along in years. He puts his personal imprint on each song. That's what it takes to be a jazz star.“ -Artie Shaw (Legendary Composer)

2. Early Years Born on November 2, 1967 in Chicago, Illinois Son of a church musician Studied the violin, French horn and the piano

3. College Attended Gustavus Adolphus College in St. Peter, Minnesota It was here where Elling became a fan of jazz music "A friend of mine down the hall was a big jazz fan, and he started hipping me to Dexter Gordon, Dave Brubeck and Herbie Hancoc. "It seemed like a natural thing to start singing that music. I turned to Ella [Fitzgerald] right away because with her scat-singing, she went beyond the usual boring pattern of singer-horn solo-singer.“ Elling would eventually join student combos, and the school’s jazz orchestra.

4. Post-College, Pre-Jazz Career Attended Grad school at the University of Chicago ‘s Divinity School Studied philosophy and ethics "I realized that my fun and the joy of my life was happening a lot more in clubs with jazz musicians than it was in the classroom with academic people.”

5. Early Career Began in the early 90’s playing gigs around Chicago. Created his own standard of jazz that differed from the norm of singing standards and songbooks. "Well, in jazz, the way it exists is for every performer to find his own voice and to speak what he really thinks and play the notes that he feels sounds good, and so it would be apathetical of the music for me to do anything other than what I really hear.”

6. Blue Note Elling became a regular at the Green Mill’s club Monday night Jazz sessions Eventually he raised enough money to book studio time He was eventually signed by Blue Note records In 1995 he released his first studio album Close Your Eyes (1995) Received a Grammy nomination for Best Jazz Vocal Artist

7. The Messenger and Future Works Elling released his sophomore album The Messenger (1997) in 1997 A year later he released his third studio album This Time It’s Lovein (1998) In 2000 Down Beat magazine honored him as the Male Vocalist of the Year In 2006 he left Blue Note records and joined Concord Jazz records In 2009 his album Dedicated to You (2009) won him his first Grammy for Best Vocal Jazz Album Elling continues to work with Concord Jazz records