KURT ELLING

There's a wide spectrum of possibilities in how to deliver a song.

It's true that I'm not known as a crooner or balladeer. I'm known for a more crusading or quixotic temperament.

Man, I just feel so fortunate to be a jazz musician at all. I have a hard time thinking of it any other way. It's such a fulfilling vocation. I love it.

You learn as much as you can from the people that you work with. That's why you want to surround yourself with the heaviest people that you can possibly get to.

Listening to something without being present is different from being there in the flesh.

I'm lucky that I enjoy touring as much as I do. I'm not going to make a living just making records.

'Man in the Air' was an experience in exercise.

Grammy nominations are certainly pleasant, but you can forget about them and lead a perfectly happy life - provided you have the approval of the musicians you work with.

Part of my joy as a singer is to give gifts to people, and one way I try to connect to them is to add something in French or German or whatever.

I'm a guy who has more slapstick than Joe Cool moments in his day, so I'm not taking myself so seriously.

You work very hard on the lyrics. Getting them to fit the contours of improvised melodies.

Sometimes, with vocalese, I'm dealing with something, a great solo from the past, which is so iconic I can't presume to change it or mess with it.

I've tried to educate myself in the world and what's beautiful and what has meaning and is lasting. Then I just follow my intuition and see how it fits.

At a certain point, the graduate school thing didn't work out, and that meant I was liberated.

It must be a hellish thing to know what's possible in music, to be hearing things all the time and not have an appropriate outlet for them.

I consider myself very fortunate. I have a beautiful wife who supports my work and is raising our daughter when I'm out on the road.

The singer is always an ambassador of music.

Every record is a gate of a certain kind for me.

My strength is to communicate with an audience and to know what jazz singing is capable of.

Each of the CDs prior to 'Flirting With Twilight' were more like roller-coaster rides.

Sometimes people have this notion that improvisation is simply intuitive leaping into the unknown.

It's a lovely thing to have people in any circumstance appreciate your work.

I like the power and versatility of a big band and how an orchestra can vary the dynamics from very loud to very quiet, and SNJO covers those bases.

People want to have access to jazz because it has a vibe that's very strong.

I had everything to gain by giving it everything I could.