Kurt Elling is a two-time GRAMMY Award-winning vocalist renowned for his rich, unmistakable sound and inventive body of work. With a singular blend of contemporary Beat lyricism, vocalese-writing ingenuity and compelling musical storytelling, the Chicago-based artist has expanded the parameters of vocal jazz and enlarged its vocabulary. The New York Times has called him “the standout male jazz vocalist of our time,” while The Guardian described him as “a kind of Sinatra with superpowers.”

Across a career spanning more than three decades, he has earned 17 GRAMMY nominations and an array of international honors, including three Prix du Jazz Vocal awards, two German ECHO Awards and three Dutch Edison Awards. He has spent two decades atop the DownBeat Critics and Readers polls and has repeatedly been named Male Vocalist of the Year by the Jazz Journalists Association.

His collaborations with many of jazz’s leading figures have included significant work with Branford Marsalis, Danilo Pérez, Fred Hersch, Charlie Hunter, Sullivan Fortner, Stefon Harris, Joey Calderazzo, Christian Sands and Yellowjackets. He is also in constant demand as a featured soloist with the world’s premier orchestras and large ensembles, including the New York Philharmonic, BBC Concert Orchestra, Count Basie Orchestra, WDR Big Band, Metropole Orkest, Clayton-Hamilton Jazz Orchestra and Village Vanguard Orchestra.

In 2025, Elling made his Broadway debut as Hermes in the Tony Award-winning musical Hadestown, bringing his distinctive voice and commanding stage presence to the Walter Kerr Theatre. His work beyond the traditional concert stage has also included multidisciplinary commissions for Chicago’s Steppenwolf Theatre and the City of Chicago. At Jazz at Lincoln Center, he premiered The Big Blind, an original jazz musical co-written with GRAMMY-nominated songwriter Phil Galdston.

An exceptionally wide-ranging recording career continues to produce ambitious new work. Recent projects have included the GRAMMY-nominated Wildflowers series of intimate collaborations and In the Brass Palace, recorded with Bob Mintzer and the WDR Big Band. Through Big Shoulders Records, the artist-led label he co-founded, Elling is also creating a home for adventurous new recordings and significant archival releases.