Modern Jazz Today

Kurt Elling & The WDR Big Band

In the Brass Palace, Kurt Elling & the WDR Big Band

Kurt Elling & The WDR Big Band

Kurt Elling — Artist Bio

Kurt Elling is a vocalist whose work is grounded in the jazz tradition while consistently engaging contemporary forms, repertoire, and collaborators. Emerging from Chicago in the 1990s, he became known for a baritone range, precise rhythmic command, and an approach to vocalese that treats the voice as an equal partner to instrumental improvisation. His early recordings established a close relationship with modern jazz composition and poetry, a thread that continues to inform his work across ensemble settings.

Over the course of his career, Elling has worked with a wide range of musicians and formats, from small groups to large ensembles, and has collaborated with artists including Branford Marsalis, Brad Mehldau, Fred Hersch, the Yellowjackets, and numerous orchestras and big bands. His projects often explore the intersection of jazz language, literary text, and song form, drawing on sources that range from standards and modern jazz compositions to contemporary songwriting and poetry.

In recent years, Elling has expanded his activities beyond traditional jazz venues, including work in theater and cross-disciplinary performance, while maintaining a steady presence in recorded and live jazz contexts. He currently releases music through his own imprint, Big Shoulders Records, reflecting a continued focus on artistic autonomy and long-term development. Elling’s work remains centered on ensemble interaction, narrative clarity, and a sustained engagement with the evolving language of jazz.

Big Shoulders Records
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In the Brass Palace

Kurt Elling & the WDR Big Band

Album Overview

In the Brass Palace presents Kurt Elling within a fully integrated big band environment, working closely with Germany’s WDR Big Band under the direction of Bob Mintzer. Rather than positioning the orchestra as accompaniment, the album treats the ensemble as an equal narrative force, with Elling’s voice woven directly into the band’s harmonic, rhythmic, and orchestral fabric. Drawing on repertoire by Duke Ellington, Thad Jones, Wayne Shorter, Joe Zawinul, John Scofield, and Joe Jackson, the program balances long-established big band language with contemporary arranging approaches, literary adaptation, and groove-centered forms. The result is a cohesive large-ensemble statement shaped by clarity of sound, deliberate pacing, and close interaction between voice and orchestra.

From the album…

Listening through the album, “They Speak No Evil” offers a clear sound point into the project’s broader aesthetic. Elling adapts text drawn from Robert Pinsky’s poem The City Dark to Wayne Shorter’s composition “Speak No Evil,” while Tim Hagans’ arrangement emphasizes contrast, harmonic tension, and open space. The ensemble’s dark tonal colors and angular figures create a setting in which the vocal line functions with the orchestration, with Andy Hunter’s trombone solo emerging naturally from the surrounding texture. The track reflects the album’s larger approach: repertoire reframed through thoughtful arranging, passionate singing, literary perspective, and close attention to ensemble balance.

Album Details

Album: In the Brass Palace
Artist: Kurt Elling & the WDR Big Band
Label: Big Shoulders Records
Release Date: February 13, 2026
Recorded: October 1–5, 2024, Studio 4, Cologne, Germany

Track Listing

  1. Steppin’ Out (Joe Jackson) – arr. Michael Abene

  2. Desire (Thad Jones) – lyric Kurt Elling, arr. Bob Mintzer

  3. My Very Own Ride (John Scofield) – lyric Nina Clark, arr. Jim McNeely

  4. I Like the Sunrise (Duke Ellington) – lyric Kurt Elling, arr. Michael Abene

  5. They Speak No Evil (Wayne Shorter) – lyric Kurt Elling (after Robert Pinsky), arr. Tim Hagans

  6. Current Affairs (Joe Zawinul) – lyric Kurt Elling, arr. Bob Mintzer

Personnel

Kurt Elling – voice
Bob Mintzer – saxophone, conductor

WDR Big Band Cologne
Piano: Billy Test
Bass: John Goldsby
Drums: Hans Dekker
Trumpets: Wim Both, Rob Bruynen, Andy Haderer, Ruud Breuls, Carlo Nardozza
Trombones: Jonathan Böbel, Raphael Klemm, Andy Hunter, Mattis Cederberg
Saxes / Woodwinds: Johan Hörlén, Karolina Strassmayer, Ben Fitzpatrick, Paul Heller, Jens Neufang

Production

Produced by Kurt Elling and Christian Schmitt
Executive Producers: Arndt Richter (WDR Big Band), Bryan Farina (Big Shoulders Records)
Recording Engineer: Walter Platte
Mixed and Mastered by Christian Schmitt

Listening moment:

Kurt Elling with the WDR Big Band, conducted by Bob Mintzer — live performance.

Listening reference: Kurt Elling with the WDR Big Band (conducted by Bob Mintzer) in live performance,
featuring repertoire associated with In the Brass Palace.

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