Jazz in July Spotlight: Kurt Elling and Dr. Billy Taylor
Video: Kurt Elling, “Easy Living” with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra in April 2008.
For two weeks this summer, Jazz in July at the 92nd Street Y will swing with the sounds of George Shearing, Billy Strayhorn, Leonard Bernstein and Brazilian jazz. You can witness the thrilling performances of the Vanguard Jazz Orchestra, Dr. Billy Taylor, Kurt Elling, Freddy Cole, Fred Hersch and many others.
Over the past ten years, Kurt Elling has earned seven Grammy nominations for six recordings, spent six consecutive years at the top of the Down Beat Critics and Jazz Times readers’ polls, won three Jazz Journalists’ Association Awards for Best Male Vocalist and received the Prix Billie Holiday from the Academie du Jazz in Paris. His quartet has toured the world to critical acclaim, and has appeared at jazz festivals and concert halls across North America, including the Monterey Jazz Festival, where he was a 2006 artist-in-residence. With a range of four octaves, Elling has also recorded and/or performed with artists including Terence Blanchard, Dave Brubeck, Al Jarreau, David Liebman, Marian McPartland and The Bob Mintzer Big Band. As composer and lyricist, Elling has written for The Steppenwolf Theater and dozens of his own works. His current Grammy-nominated CD, Nightmoves, is on Concord Records. He performs Tuesday, July 22 in Somewhere: The Songs of Leonard Bernstein.
The distinguished ambassador from the world of jazz to the world at large, Dr. Billy Taylor has served as the Kennedy Center’s Artistic Director for Jazz since 1994. His show, “Billy Taylor’s Jazz at the Kennedy Center,” was broadcast over NPR for eight years. In 2001, he donated his personal collection to the Library of Congress, the largest jazz archive ever acquired. Born in Greenville (NC), Dr. Taylor spent the ‘40s playing with Charlie Parker, Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald and more, before becoming house pianist of Birdland. Since then he has mostly performed with his own trios and has amassed some 50 recordings and 300 songs to his credit. Now Dr. Taylor is perhaps the foremost jazz educator of our time, creating grass roots efforts such as Jazzmobile, leading master classes across the country, and writing definitive books on the subject. He plays Wednesday, July 23 in Piano Jam.
Over the past ten years, Kurt Elling has earned seven Grammy nominations for six recordings, spent six consecutive years at the top of the Down Beat Critics and Jazz Times readers’ polls, won three Jazz Journalists’ Association Awards for Best Male Vocalist and received the Prix Billie Holiday from the Academie du Jazz in Paris. His quartet has toured the world to critical acclaim, and has appeared at jazz festivals and concert halls across North America, including the Monterey Jazz Festival, where he was a 2006 artist-in-residence. With a range of four octaves, Elling has also recorded and/or performed with artists including Terence Blanchard, Dave Brubeck, Al Jarreau, David Liebman, Marian McPartland and The Bob Mintzer Big Band. As composer and lyricist, Elling has written for The Steppenwolf Theater and dozens of his own works. His current Grammy-nominated CD, 
The distinguished ambassador from the world of jazz to the world at large, Dr. Billy Taylor has served as the Kennedy Center’s Artistic Director for Jazz since 1994. His show, “Billy Taylor’s Jazz at the Kennedy Center,” was broadcast over NPR for eight years. In 2001, he donated his personal collection to the Library of Congress, the largest jazz archive ever acquired. Born in Greenville (NC), Dr. Taylor spent the ‘40s playing with Charlie Parker, Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald and more, before becoming house pianist of Birdland. Since then he has mostly performed with his own trios and has amassed some 50 recordings and 300 songs to his credit. Now Dr. Taylor is perhaps the foremost jazz educator of our time, creating grass roots efforts such as Jazzmobile, leading master classes across the country, and writing definitive books on the subject. He plays Wednesday, July 23 in 
