Ed finally told me that my scatting was cool, but that my real strength was when I'm making up my own lyrics while I'm singing. In the two years since the release of Close Your Eyes, Elling has played dates from New York's Carnegie Hall to L.A.'s Viper Room. He's been profiled on CBS Sunday Morning and landed top spots on Down Beat magazine's annual readers poll. He's performing everywhere from the famed Birdland and Village Gate jazz clubs to the more experimental Knitting Factory, and at strategically selected bookstores and coffeehouses. We really believe in the music we're making.
Some people have a real rigid view of what jazz is supposed to be.
In search of more receptive audiences, he's looking forward to playing his schedule's more offbeat venues. You know, in a lot of ways it's easier to play a coffeehouse than it is to play Birdland or play in Chicago. Here, lots of people have seen us, so the challenge is to do a performance that was as good or at least as interesting as the last one. In Birdland, we know we have to play a great set. The author of this piece, Jeff Makos, AB'81, AM'82, is a staff writer in the University News Office.