Kurt Elling

Man in the Air' was an experience in exercise.

You can never predict what the specific shape of your life is going to be, and you won't really know its general shape until, God willing, you're advanced in years and you have the time and opportunity to look back in a coherent way and see what your life was about.

I can't say New York's home, but I've made a lot of friends, and I'm developing a map of what cats are here and where they play, and as a singer, you're always looking for projects that tie things in emotionally and intuitively with your life.

I've worked with a number of big bands, but there's nothing in life like the Basie band.

I'm lucky that I enjoy touring as much as I do. I'm not going to make a living just making records.

You don't show respect to Frank Sinatra and his great example by trying to sound exactly like him. You show it by sounding exactly like you, and that's the way jazz has always progressed as an art form.

I couldn't do what I do without the encouragement and influence of the musicians I played with in Chicago.

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.

Chicago has a burly, action-oriented but still self-assured and relaxed confidence to its stride. The city has a lot of wide-open space and all the possibilities that suggests. There's a lot of horizontal grandeur here.

I'm a guy who has more slapstick than Joe Cool moments in his day, so I'm not taking myself so seriously.

Chicago is my home. And the way Chicago sounds will always be a part of who I am.

I don't really have a more intellectualized approach. After the fact, I can sure talk about stuff a lot - but when I make decisions, I really just follow what sounds good to me.