| Jazz |
The Edition Records press release reads: SuperBlue: The Iridescent Spree is the highly anticipated follow-up to the 2021 GRAMMY-nominated eponymous album created by genre-bending trailblazers Kurt Elling & Charlie Hunter. Joining forces with multi-instrumentalist duo drummer Corey Fonville and bassist-keyboardist DJ Harrison (of Richmond, VA-based jazz-funk fusion quintet Butcher Brown).
This new SuperBlue, while less radical than its predecessor, remains particularly conceptual and theatrical, propelled by particularly poetic moments and others closer to post-industrial jazz, with perfect vocal mastery that leaves the listener deeply admiring. Moreover, Kurt Elling gradually slips into a new, more contemporary character, supported by music between jazz, pop, and rock, but always tasteful, and each album by this artist forces us to rediscover him. Not everyone may appreciate its interest as listeners often struggle to keep up with an artist’s evolution, but every evolution is necessary for an artist, and Kurt Elling is a perfect example of this. On this album, we feel him liberated from all forms of constraints, experimenting with rhythms and melodies at the core of their identities, and the result is frankly amazing.
Guitarist Charlie Hunter also seems boosted by the Kurt Elling sauce, blending into the mix to reappear more smoothly, smoothing his attack on the strings of his guitar. As I mentioned earlier, this is one of the great vocal albums of 2023, the kind of album that cannot leave you indifferent, proof that the artistic aspect does not deteriorate under the hat of the music industry.
We are pleasantly surprised by the very high quality of the compositions and arrangements, as well as the prowess of Kurt Elling, who teams up with multi-instrumentalist duo drummer Corey Fonville and bassist-keyboardist DJ Harrison (of Richmond, VA-based jazz-funk fusion quintet Butcher Brown) bringing great originality to this album. So you will certainly not be surprised to know that the editorial teams of Bayou Blue Radio and Paris Move have included this new SuperBlue in their “Essential” pile.
Thierry De Clemensat
Correspondent in USA
Bayou Blue News – Bayou Blue Radio – Paris-Move
PARIS-MOVE, May 11th 2023
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