Ian Shaw & Friends

In Conversation and Music with Kurt Elling

Exclusive and For One Night Only!

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Last Show: Monday 27 th January 2020

PizzaExpress Jazz Club (Soho)

In this exclusive night of conversation and music, Kurt Elling joins Ian Shaw to mark the UK launch of Elling's 'The Big Blind'

Renowned for his singular combination of robust swing and poetic insight, GRAMMY winner Kurt Elling has secured his place among the world’s foremost jazz vocalists. Declared “the standout male vocalist of our time” by The New York Times, Elling has garnered unprecedented accolades, including a fourteen-year run atop the DownBeat Critics Poll, a dozen GRAMMY nominations, and eight Jazz Journalists Association awards for “Male Singer of the Year.” Elling last headlined PizzaExpress Jazz Club ten years ago, and returns tonight as part of Ian Shaw's residency. 

Renowned for his singular combination of robust swing and poetic insight, GRAMMY winner Kurt Elling has secured his place among the world’s foremost jazz vocalists. Declared “the standout male vocalist of our time” by The New York Times, Elling has garnered unprecedented accolades, including a fourteen-year run atop the DownBeat Critics Poll, a dozen GRAMMY nominations, and eight Jazz Journalists Association awards for “Male Singer of the Year.”

Elling’s most recent release, Secrets Are the Best Stories, continues the explorations begun on his Grammy-nominated The Questions, delving even deeper into life’s most challenging philosophical puzzles alongside renowned pianist Danilo Pérez, whose work embraces a unifying global vision. Whether transforming timeless standards or crafting his own enthralling originals, Elling balances elegant lyricism and technical mastery with emotional depth and keen observations into the human condition. “Since the mid-1990s,” hails the Washington Post, “[Elling] has come to embody the creative spirit in jazz.”

At end of this month, The BBC Concert Orchestra and an all-star cast present Kurt Elling and Phil Galdston's noir-inspired jazz audio drama ‘The Big Blind’ in its UK debut. Set in mid 20th-century Chicago, this radio-style drama with music charts the trials and tribulations of a young jazz singer.The gripping tale features original compositions by Kurt Elling and Phil Galdston, their lyrics to music by Duke Ellington, Charles Mingus, James Newton Howard, Wayne Shorter and Joe Zawinul, and underscore and arrangements by Guy Barker. The performance at Queen Elizabeth Hall will feature vocal contributions from Ian Shaw, Dee Dee Bridgwater, Cherise Adams-Burnett and Elling himself.

For this special night, part of the Ian Shaw & Friends residency, the two friends will talk about the origins of ‘The Big Blind’, and about Elling’s extraordinary career. They will be joined by Elling's pianist/MD, Jim Watson.