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Amazon.co.uk Review
The iconoclastic, beat-inspired influence of Mark Murphy was particularly evident in Kurt Elling's earlier records, but in Flirting With Twilight, the latest in an extraordinary series of records for Blue Note, Elling takes a more classical approach, favouring shimmering ballad renditions from the American songbook over hip Kerouacism. But it's a measure of his talent that he sounds no bit diminished by the less obviously racy setting. It's clear that his voice is one of the most versatile and virtuosic of instruments, and that his musical imagination is as fertile when it encounters something as prosaic as "Moonlight Serenade" as it was when it tackled something as consciously cool as "Dolores Dream" on Close Your Eyes. Like the greatest jazz instrumentalists (one thinks of Sonny Rollins or, latterly, Chris Potter), Elling is a master of subtle rhythmic and motivic variation, reliving the notes and words on the page at every turn of the melody. Marvel, for example, at the impossibly long-held "know" in the first verse of "You Don't Know What Love Is", and recoil at its blood-chilling resolution; thrill at his bone-deep understanding of the whys, wherefores, twists and turns of the great jazz tradition. No doubt Elling has the measure of his mainstream repertoire, but admirers of his earlier, more explicitly modernist approach will be pleased to find that he remains the outsider: note the way he casually turns a bebop lick in the middle of "Moonlight" and the way the timbre sours to the point of menace when regret or perfidy loom up in a lyric. Elling's clear and precise expression is a delicate thing and demands impeccable accompaniment. He gets it from Clay Jenkins (trumpet), Jeff Clayton and Bob Sheppard (saxophones), Laurence Hobgood (piano), Marc Johnson (bass) and Peter Erskine (drums). Together, the team move Elling's art forward, finding a way to build on already formidable successes. --Mark Gilbert
Album description
Following four Grammy nominations for his previous albums, vocalist Kurt Elling returns with Flirting With Twilight. Recorded in Hollywood in January and February 2001, the album features 13 generally down-tempo tracks which provide perfect platforms for Elling's extraordinary and virtosic vocal excursions. Kurt is joined by Clay Jenkins (trumpet), Jeff Clayton (alto saxophone), Bob Sheppard (soprano and tenor saxophone), Laurence Hobgood (piano), Marc Johnson (bass) and Peter Erskine (drums).
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
3 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
This time it's lovely. On previous excursions Kurt has indulged on occasions in overly-showy (although undoubtedly masterful) vocal and verbal gymnastics and in the process created music that doesn't sustain repeated listens. On this album, he has chosen mostly standards- and there are some gorgeous tunes amongst them: "I'm Through With Love", "You Don't Know What Love Is" and Sondheim's "Not While I'm Around". His band sounds excellent as always. While not as satisfying as "This Time It's Love", his last and best album, Flirting With Twilight is very very good. Perhaps the album could do with more light and shade- it's a little bit on the sleepy side- but a very worthy addition to any jazz vocals fan's collection.
Format:Audio CD
Music is a personal thing, so I never like all this trying to rate albums. Why do Dolphy and Mingus playing Stormy Weather move me so while others look mystified?! I like all ranges of jazz, from free to cool (but not "smooth") and I am a jazz piano player too. But none of that means anything. So really this review is to say, listen to track one, listen to the vocal break on Lil Darlin, and if you don't like those, you won't like the rest. But for me, they are sheer beauty and class. If you don't swoon and put Moonlight Serenade on another 10 times, this isn't going to move you. But after several years, it continues to be the male jazz vocalist album I go back to most. And no female jazz vocalist of recent years (except Shirley Horn who was hardly a new voice) has kept my attention. I'm still listening to Carmen McRae, Billie Holiday, Shirley Horn, Helen Merrill, Dinah Washington, Irene Kral, Norma Washington and have found no young substitute despite the undeniable talents out there - Ooh, I lied, I just remembered ... Rene Marie also stole my heart without a doubt. What a singer! Anyway, a wholehearted recommendation from my personal perspective. And check Laurnence Hobgood's piano playing - gorgeous...
Format:Audio CD
The horn arrangements seem to distract more than help but Moonlight Serenade (Elling's lyrics put over a Charlie Haden solo) goes down in the history books as a masterpiece straight away and the rest isn't far behind. Pianist, arranger and bandleader Hobgood, as ever, is masterful. Joyous but mellow, intelligent, sophisticated and refined, a CD that should not be missed.
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