Kurt Elling News

Grammy and Academy Award winner Jennifer Hudson , who wowed President Obama and distinguished guests on Tuesday at Obama's first White House state dinner, has been cast to play Nelson Mandela 's ex-wife, Winnie , in an upcoming film about her life.

There also were turbans and bindis and diamonds aplenty, as several hundred guests put on the glitz and joined a White House celebration in honor of Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

First Lady Gursharan Kaur of India, First Lady Michelle Obama, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh of India, and President Obama arrived for the state dinner.

Theatre London, A party made for legends at London Jazz Festival By Jack Massarik, None 16.11.09 More reviews by Jack Massarik Last pioneer of a golden age: 79-year-old jazz tenor saxophonist Sonny Rollins Start with a bang, they always say, and the organisers of the 2009 London Jazz Festival certainly achieved that objective.

You'd need multi-dimensional capabilities - or at least stout shoes and a good map -to fully take in the artistry and music on offer at this year's London Jazz Festival.

Jazz for the Park , a fundraiser for Wilson Commencement Park, is in its fifth year and still attracting greats for the cause.

Sarajevo Jazz Festival Opens Sarajevo Sarajevo The 13th annual Sarajevo Jazz Festival opened here on Tuesday with a performance by the US singer Kurt Elling, one of the world's most distinctive male vocalists in jazz today.

It is somewhat disconcerting how few new male vocalists inhabiting the jazz idiom practice their craft with the same degree of genius and virtuosity as saxophonists and other instrumentalists.

Ticket sales for this year's festival were up 35% on last year. Over 1,000 musicians from some 29 countries are playing at over 80 venues around the city in the event, which is now ranked as being in the top three jazz festivals in Europe.

Kurt Elling performs with pianist Lawrence Hobgood at Dizzy's Club Coca-Cola at Frederick P. Rose Hall, home to Jazz at Lincoln Center.

Even though jazz singer Kurt Elling is an intellectual, once on the stage or in the recording studio, his music breathes with emotion that stirs the soul.

For much of the current decade, drummer and Chicago native Kobie Watkins - he moved to New York in 2007, then to North Carolina earlier this year - has worked behind some of our city's best-known jazzers, including guitarist Bobby Broom , pianist Ryan Cohan , and singer Kurt Elling .

Last week at this time I was in California for the Monterey Jazz Festival, a three-day celebration of mostly jazz and the longest-running festival of its kind in the world: 52 consecutive years.

The Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz today announced its 22nd annual Thelonious Monk International Jazz Competition and all-star Gala Concert will take place at the Kennedy Center Eisenhower Theater at 7:30 p.m. on Sunday, October 11.

Saturday night's doings at the Monterey Jazz Festival were a good reminder that you never know exactly what to expect with improvised music.

It's September already a ' time for my annual opinionated guide to the 2009-2010 performing arts schedules at the city's downtown culture palaces.

The Indy Jazz Festival, presented by Marsh, in Indianapolis announces that current Cole Porter Fellow, Dan Tepfer, has been added to the lineup of this prestigious festival presented yearly.

Jazz Laurence Hobgood with Charlie Haden and Kurt Elling, "When the Heart Dances" . Singer Kurt Elling guests on three of the 11 tracks of pianist Laurence Hobgood's and bassist Charlie Haden's "When the Heart Dances." If you were Hobgood - who has long been Elling's composer and arranger - you would be happy to have the bassist master along, too.

The festival, which runs from October 23-26, will include headline acts such as sax player Pharoah Sanders, drummer Jack DeJohnette and stunning vocalist Kurt Elling.

Updating our item from a couple of months ago, the 2009 Berklee Beantown Jazz Fest is now set for September 18-26. In its 9th year it has expanded to 9 days and 9 stages at locations around the city, from Berklee Performance Center to funky old Wally's. Back in June it was only five days! Saturday the 26th is still the big day, with fun outdoors ...