Grammy winning vocalist Kurt Elling has released “Manic Panic Epiphanic” the second single from his new album SuperBlue which will be released October 8, 2021 via Edition Records.
The follow up to his 2020 Grammy winner Secrets Are the Best Stories, SuperBlue is a head-turning torrent of roisterous funk, indelible beats and all-too-current lyrics that boasts the talents of producer-guitarist Charlie Hunter and two stars of the hip-hop generation: drummer Corey Fonville and bassist-keyboardist DJ Harrison (both of the genre-hopping band Butcher Brown).
Spread throughout the summer, Elling’s announced live dates will see him perform with a variety of musicians, both as headliner and guest. The full SuperBlue band tour will take place in October with additional dates to be announced in coming weeks.
Elling has always been a master of grooves, ranging from bebop to pure pop and progressive jazz to neo-soul, but he’s never filled an album with grooves quite like these. On SuperBlue, the grooves are generous and bountiful and the mix is phat and vibrant, creating springboards for some of the most vivid tracks of Elling’s career. The new rhythmic playground shows off Elling’s still-broadening vocal prowess. The arrangements extend the singer’s already remarkable range and expand his role as a gifted storyteller, adept at both hipster humor and soul-shattering pathos.
SuperBlue, continues Elling’s path of bold collaboration on a project guaranteed to gain new listeners and stretch the ears of his devoted admirers.
Kurt Elling on Tour:
7/20 – 92Y – New York, NY w/ Bill Charlap
7/24 – Great Lakes Center for the Arts w/ Kurt Elling Quartet
7/30 – 8/1 – Catalina’s Jazz Club w/ John Beasley’s Monk’estra Trio
8/4 – The Soiled Dove – Denver, CO w/ Kurt Elling Quartet
8/6 – Jas Café: St. Regis Hotel – Aspen, CO w/ Kurt Elling Quartet
8/15 – San Jose Jazz Festival – San Jose, CA – w/ SuperBlue band, Charlie Hunter/Corey Fonville/DJ Harrison
9/4 – Detroit Jazz Festival – w/ Dee Bridgewater and Ben Vereen
9/5 – John Coltrane Jazz Festival – High Point, NC w/ Kurt Elling Quartet
10/20 – City Winery – Boston, MA – SuperBlue: feat. Charlie Hunter & Nate Smith
10/22-24 – Keystone Corner – Baltimore, MD – SuperBlue: feat. Charlie Hunter & Nate Smith
10/28 – City Winery – Atlanta, GA – SuperBlue: feat. Charlie Hunter & Nate Smith
10/29 – City Winery – Nashville, TN – SuperBlue: feat. Charlie Hunter & Nate Smith
10/30 – Germantown Perf. Arts Center – Germantown, TN – SuperBlue: feat. Charlie Hunter
