A biography for Kurt Ellinghasn’t been written yet.
“While I revel in the memories of my own Grammy moment, I also know how it feels to walk away empty-handed.”
“I think my intention was there, and my love for the music was apparent. And there are very few singers who get up and desire to take the kinds of risks that jazz musicians routinely need to be taking.”
“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.”
“If you start to dwell on your pain, the amount of pain will increase.”
“I think I make most of my decisions pretty organically.”
“I had everything to gain by giving it everything I could.”
“There's a spiritual complement to any attempt at transposing a commitment to humanity through music or art.”
“There is an actor's responsibility in presenting the emotional content of the lyrics to an audience. But whether you do that in a straightforward fashion or an ironic fashion or a blase fashion is all about opportunities, and singers are missing opportunities as artists if they don't pay attention to the lyric.”
“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 don't want to take it easy.”
“I've got more low notes than I had when I started.”
“There's a wide spectrum of possibilities in how to deliver a song.”
“I know how hard it's been for me to get my thing out there.”
“It's true that I'm not known as a crooner or balladeer. I'm known for a more crusading or quixotic temperament.”
“I haven't been afraid of John Coltrane or Miles Davis or Bill Evans or Wayne Shorter or Herbie Hancock. Why would I be afraid of the Beatles?”
“Chicago is my home. And the way Chicago sounds will always be a part of who I am.”
“My strength is to communicate with an audience and to know what jazz singing is capable of.”
“I try to stick with things that I can sing with honesty.”
“You don't just let a guy drop off the earth and not come together with everybody who knew him and loved him and respected him. You try to do it the right way.”
“People just want to dig; they want to dance. They don't want to work all through the night, and neither do I. I like getting 'out there,' but communication should be occurring on more levels than heavy-laden philosophical.”