Dedicated to You: Kurt Elling Sings the Music of Coltrane and Hartman. This live collection was recorded in January 2009 at the Allen Room in the Lincoln Center, New York as part of Lincoln Center’s American Songbook series. The new 12-track release features saxophonist Ernie Watts, the Laurence Hobgood Trio and string quartet, ETHEL.

Dedicated To You is a tribute to one of the most beloved and beautiful recordings in jazz, John Coltrane & Johnny Hartman. On that six song album, Coltrane introduces a relatively unknown singer named Johnny Hartman. The two musicians had only just met one another. In a mere three hours though, they produce a classic. Hartman unfortunately never gains much recognition beyond this one album. Coltrane obviously fares a bit better.

Kurt Elling is a stand-out choice to honor Hartman. He boasts a rich baritone with flawless intonation and an uncanny flair for storytelling, just like Hartman before him. They're also both from Chicago, which may be related to Elling's interest in this project (Elling was recently named "Chicagoan of the Year" and holds down a regular night at the Green Mill when not on tour). 

The supporting voice on that classic album is, of course, John Coltrane. Ernie Watts, a veteran of the LA studio scene, doesn't jump out as the obvious pick for this role. Nonetheless, Watts doesn't disappoint, though at times he sounds more like Lenny Pickett than John Coltrane. But while his tone may not match the expectations of purists, his solos compliment the vocal approach of Elling perfectly.

This is not meant to be a replica of the 1963 classic. In fact, many of the tracks are from Ballads, another seminal Coltrane album recorded around the same time. It also doesn't have the spare quartet sound of the original. Elling's pianist and arranger Laurence Hobgood enlists the ETHEL string quartet to fill-out the group. This provides opportunities for a fuller orchestral feel with a few chamber interludes too.

The CD's lone instrumental "What's New?" receives a bit too much care (and vibrato), which when combined with Strings starts to drift into the realm of 70's-style Muzak. The track is short and soon the band is back to business with one of the most memorial songs on the original LP, "Lush Life".

Don't be put off by the Ink Spots style talking in the beginning of the second track "It's Easy To Remember". Elling proceeds to tell the fascinating story of the Coltrane/Hartman session. For those don't know the album's history, it may be surprising to learn how loose and unstructured the session really was - I suspect that Hobgood spent a bit more time preparing for this set. It's also poignant to hear of Hartman's struggle to achieve prominence as a vocalist (his fame is mostly posthumous).

Dedicated to You is a live recording from Lincoln Center's lavish Allen Room. The sound quality is first-rate, the audience enthusiastic. Elling has once again shown that he's not only a lover of this music, but a big part of its future.

Kurt Elling Online

Track listing: All Or Nothing At All, It's Easy To Remember, Dedicated To You, Medley: What's New (Instrumental)/Lush Life/Autumn Serenade, Say It (Over and Over Again), They Say It's Wonderful, Medley: My One And Only Love/Nancy With The Laughing Face, Acknowledgments, You Are Too Beautiful
Personnel: Kurt Elling: voice, Laurence Hobgood: piano, Clark Sommers: bass, Ulysses Owens: drums, Ernie Watts - tenor saxophone (1,4-7,10,12), Corenlius Dufalo: violin, Ralph Farris: viola, Dorothy Lawson: cello, Mary Rowell: violin

RELEASE DATE: June 23, 2009