Kurt Elling Brings Grammy-Winning Jazz to Cooperstown Festival, 7/29

The Kurt Elling Quartet with John McLean will perform July 29 at 7:30 pm at the Otesaga Hotel in Cooperstown, NY, as part of the Cooperstown Summer Music Festival. Grammy-winner Elling will perform jazz standards as well as songs from his new album, The Gate.

In June, the Jazz Journalists Association named Elling "Male Singer of the Year" for the seventh time in the past ten years, and the DownBeat Critics Poll named him top male vocalist, for the 12th time in a row. JazzWeek awarded The Gate 2011 Record of the Year.

The New York Times raves, "Elling is the standout male vocalist of our time." Said The Washington Post, "Since the mid-1990s, no singer in jazz has been as daring, dynamic or interesting as Kurt Elling. With his soaring vocal flights, his edgy lyrics and sense of being on a musical mission, he has come to embody the creative spirit in jazz."

Performing with Elling are: Laurence Hobgood, piano; John McLean, guitar; Clark Sommers, bass; Ulysses Owens, drums.

"We're delighted to present Kurt Elling and his quartet," says Festival Artistic Director Linda Chesis. "There is a lot of excitement about this concert, and I think all of it is well deserved. It will be a great evening of jazz." She noted that the Otesaga Ballroom will be set up in jazz club style with tables and a cash bar.

Kurt Elling's collaborator since 1995, pianist/composer/arranger Laurence Hobgood has enjoyed a multi-faceted and dynamic career. Hobgood is featured on all of Elling's recordings for Concord. Their 2009 live recording "Dedicated to You: Kurt Elling Sings the Music of Coltrane and Hartman," received the Grammy for Best Jazz Vocal Album. He has performed both with Elling and with his own trio at Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Birdland, Chicago's Symphony Center, and Ravinia, as well as jazz festivals including Montreaux, North Sea, Monterey, Spoleto USA, Newport, Tanglewood, Umbria, Montreal, and many others. The Gate features Hobgood's arrangements of songs by Herbie Hancock, MiLes Davis, The Beatles, Stevie Wonder and more.

Jazz guitarist John McLean's 25-year career has included work as a performer, composer, arranger, producer, bandleader, and educator. In addition to Kurt Elling, he has appeared and recorded with Mose Allison, Dr. Lonnie Smith, Patricia Barber, Randy Breaker and many more. His 2007 recording "Better Angels" features his septet in a program of original music and innovative arrangements of jazz classics.

Clark Sommers has toured and performed extensively throughout the world sharing bills with artists such as Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter, Diana Krall, Tony Bennett and B.B.King. Clark has been a member of the Dan Cray trio for 11 years. Clark completed his undergraduate degree in Jazz Studies and World Music at California Institute of the Arts, where he studied with bass masters Charlie Haden and Darek Oles.

Ulysses Owens Jr., drums, has performed with Wynton Marsalis, Vanessa Rubin, Audrey McDonald, Dr. Lonnie Smith, the Count Basie Jazz Orchestra, Mulgrew Miller, and many others. In addition to touring with Kurt Elling, he is currently touring with Christian McBride. He also is artistic consultant to the Don't Miss A Beat Summer Musical Workshop in Jacksonville, Florida.

Tickets and Information
Concert tickets are available online, www.CooperstownMusicFest.org; by phone through Brown Paper Tickets, 800.838.3006, or at the door, as available. Tickets are $25 for adults; $15 for students 6-18. The Otesaga Resort Hotel, a grand, century-old hotel overlooking Otsego Lake, is located at 60 Lake Street in Cooperstown.

About the Festival
The Festival, under the artistic direction of flutist Linda Chesis, has a tradition of featuring jazz, including the Hank Jones Trio, Hilary Kole, Stefon Harris, Bill Charlap, Trio da Paz, and the Brubeck Brothers Quartet.

The Cooperstown Summer Music Festival continues with classical offerings: the Flute Fest (8/4), Boston comes to Cooperstown with the BSO's Keisuke Wakao (8/10), the American String Quartet (8/15), the East Coast Chamber Orchestra (8/21), and the Juilliard String Quartet (8/28). Concerts are held in the Louis C. Jones Center of The Farmers' Museum (8/10 and 8/28) and in the ballroom of the Otesaga Resort Hotel (7/29, 8/4, 8/15 and 8/21).

The Cooperstown Chamber Music Festival is made possible in part with public funds from the New York State Council on the Arts, a state agency.

Photo Credit: Timothy Saccenti

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