Kurt Elling (Chicago, 1967) is one of the most decorated jazz vocalists of his generation, possessing a four-octave baritone and a rare gift for vocalese - setting original lyrics to instrumental solos - that has genuinely expanded the vocabulary of vocal jazz. A two-time Grammy winner with seventeen nominations in total, he spent two decades at the top of the DownBeat Critics Poll and has collected fifteen Jazz Journalists Association Awards for Male Vocalist of the Year. In 2025 he stepped outside jazz entirely, making his Broadway debut as Hermes in the Tony Award-winning musical Hadestown.
Kurt Elling released the album In the Brass Palace on February 13, 2026, recorded with the WDR Big Band Cologne under the direction of Bob Mintzer.
Elling made his Broadway debut in October 2025 as Hermes in the Tony Award-winning musical Hadestown at the Walter Kerr Theatre in New York.
On September 2, 2025, Elling performed for the first time as Hermes in Hadestown, a role he played until January 25, 2026.
In August 2025, Wildflowers, Vol. 3 was released, a duo EP by Elling with pianist Christian Sands.
Kurt Elling & Yellowjackets Celebrate Weather Report performed on July 13, 2025 at the NN North Sea Jazz Festival in Rotterdam.
