Elling was as usual accompanied by his long-time collaborator Laurence Hobgood on piano, as well as local heros Clark Sommers on bass and John McLean on guitar. This time, Quincy Davies was on drums. And this band is realiably excellent, as is Elling in any live setting. The set was dominated by pieces from his most recent record and augmented by a few other standout pieces. There is a pretty rich set of live music by Elling on YouTube, see for example On Broadway (which was part of the set in a wonderfully fast and funked-up variant), Golden Lady (from the previous album, and also played live this time) or for example this wonderful version of You Send Me (also part of the concert).
I snatched a photo or two (while at least turning my flash off, unlike the weird gal to my left, but I digress) and posted one on Google+.
Kurt Elling will be back in Chicago at the Green Mill in early January. Expect to me there, and I hope to see you too!
This post by Dirk Eddelbuettel originated on his Thinking inside the box blog. Please report excessive re-aggregation in third-party for-profit settings.