The electricity of live jazz has been filling Kaufmann Concert Hall for over 60 years, with legends and luminaries including John Coltrane, Thelonious Monk, Sonny Rollins, Bill Evans, Sarah Vaughan, Jim Hall, Wynton Marsalis, Cécile McLorin Salvant and scores of others lighting up our stage and dazzling audiences with their artistry.
We’re thrilled to be kicking off the return of New York City’s most celebrated summer jazz festival with two live, in-person concerts featuring NEA Jazz Master and five-time Grammy Award winner Dianne Reeves and two-time Grammy winner Kurt Elling. They make their first appearances back on the New York City stage as they join Jazz in July artistic director Bill Charlap and some of the world’s greatest musicians, and as we reopen our concert hall for the excitement of live jazz as it was meant to be experienced. Bill sat down with us to talk about it all.
Jazz in July returns to our stage with a wow, with concerts featuring two of the most revered vocalists in jazz. The New York Times called Dianne Reeves “The most admired jazz diva since the heyday of Sarah Vaughan, Ella Fitzgerald and Billie Holiday.” Please share some of your own thoughts about her artistry.
Dianne Reeves is the best there is. She has one of the richest God-given instruments on this earth. Her sound is so glorious, the way she approaches a lyric so nuanced, and her concept of music so wide-ranging – she is a consummate musician in every sense. Dianne takes you on a journey with every song she sings, and there is such utter beauty in everything she does. I can’t say enough about how much I admire her and how excited I am to perform with her for the very first time, especially with my musical partners of over 20 years, Kenny Washington and Peter Washington. This concert is going to be sensational.
The festival opens with the great Kurt Elling, who you’ve collaborated with – sublimely – before, and who The Guardian has called “A kind of Sinatra with superpowers.” What are those superpowers(!)? What makes him such a remarkable musician and compelling performer?
There is simply nobody like Kurt Elling. Like Frank Sinatra, Nat King Cole and Tony Bennett before him, Kurt is the definitive male vocalist of today. His natural instrument is such a gorgeous gift – just the quality of his voice and what he does with it – on a musical level, a rhythm section level and on a conceptual level – he is a complete and unique force in our music. Hearing him in concert is like being taken on a ride of imagination, possibility and wonder.
The concerts will feature timeless, classic standards, but there’s never anything standard about them when performed by an artist like Dianne Reeves or Kurt Elling – or you for that matter! Can you talk a bit about the music on the programs and what these artists bring to these songs?
Hearing artists like Dianne and Kurt sing standards is the best of all possible worlds. You have a foundation of songs that are well known and much loved, and two of the defining voices and interpreters of our time approaching them in ways that vary from nuanced to astonishing and making them entirely their own.
When Dianne Reeves sings a song like “Skylark,” she embraces the emotion of the song with such depth she leaves an imprint that makes you feel you’ve never – or never fully – heard it before. And what Kurt does with a song like “September in the Rain” – it’s like a master painter who surprises you with his sense of architecture, color and design.
We’ll be performing music by Cole Porter, Jerome Kern, Leonard Bernstein, Stephen Sondheim and more, and when we talk about standards, what we’re really talking about is telling a story with words and music. Dianne and Kurt do this better than just about anyone on the planet. They don’t just sing the lyric, they inhabit it. They are risk takers, they are endlessly inventive, they absolutely slay a ballad, they swing like nobody’s business, and the sheer beauty of their voices can take your breath away.
The other musicians in these concerts are among the most stellar performing anywhere today. The Guardian has called the Bill Charlap Trio “One of the best trios ever.” Can you tell us a bit about who we’ll be hearing?
I can’t say enough about each of these musicians. The concert with Dianne will feature my trio of 24 years – bassist Peter Washington and drummer Kenny Washington. They are magnificent musicians on every level. Our chemistry was instant from the start, and we continue to ignite each other.
The concert with Kurt will feature three of my all-time favorite musicians, starting with the great Steve Wilson at the alto saxophone, who plays with such feeling, the most beautiful sound, and a complete embrace of the past, present and future all at the same time. Bassist David Wong is one of the finest musicians in the world today – he has a glorious tone, perfect logic of the line, and is always listening. And Carl Allen is just a master percussionist. He swings so intensely, and there is so much depth and originality in his musicianship.
When I think of all of these musicians – including Dianne Reeves and Kurt Elling – they share a religious devotion to the essence of our music, to knowing its history profoundly and to finding their original voices within that history. And when they are together on a stage making music, well that’s where the magic happens.
You’ve spoken about your love of Kaufmann Concert Hall and your feeling that it’s one of the great halls in the world for both performing and experiencing live music. What makes it a venue of such distinction for you and for the audience?
Kaufmann Concert Hall is one of the most special places on earth to play. It’s the perfect size, and the wood that it’s made of, the shape of the hall, and the way musicians hear each other so well on stage – everything is just so beautifully appointed acoustically. The great Gerry Mulligan told me it was his favorite hall in New York City.
From the audience perspective, the hall is just large enough that every concert is very much an event, but at the same time, it’s still beautifully intimate. The listener is able to experience the artists and the music in a way that feels very personal, yet they can also take it all in, as if stepping back from an Impressionist painting after looking closely at the brush strokes. It’s an amazing hall. And it’s an amazing place to hear jazz.
Finally, these concerts will be your first – and also Dianne Reeves and Kurt Ellings’ first – in New York City since the Before Times. How are you feeling about that?
What a thrill it is to be able to experience live jazz again! You know, when I’m alone and I listen to the music I really love – of course that’s wonderful. But if there’s even one other person in the room I can share it with, it’s like listening in Surround Sound. So, to be back in a marvelous concert hall, listening to great music together as a collective experience – there’s hardly anything that makes you feel so alive. These concerts are going to be slammin.'
Kurt Elling & Bill Charlap: Standard Time: Tuesday, July 20, 7:30 pm
Dianne Reeves Meets the Bill Charlap Trio: Tuesday, July 27, 7:30 pm
In person at 92Y! Also available via livestream
Jazz in July 2021 is supported by Evelene Wechsler.
The Jazz in July series is partially endowed by a generous gift from Simona and Jerome A. Chazen.
Major support is also provided by Gilda Block and Barbara Tober.