(Concord Jazz)

Chicago’s native son Kurt Elling pays tribute to New York, the city he’s called home for the past 4 years, on his latest recording 1619 Broadway – The Brill Building Project ,yet another spectacular outing for the Grammy-winning singer. The music, like the album’s title, is derived from the landmark structure which gave birth to so many of contemporary music’s noted songs, performers and composers, including Carole King, Sam Cooke, Paul Simon, Barry Mann, Cynthia Weil, Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller, whose work is at the heart of this project. Once again, Elling teams with his longtime pianist and arranging genius Laurence Hobgood to create brilliant new variations on iconic tunes. Elling’s serious vocal excellence is there, but so too are some playful bits that showcase the more humorous side of the singer’s persona. This recording reminds us again why Elling remains among the most highly-regarded vocalists of his generation, simply by maintaining the integrity and standards we’ve come to expect in his work.