Ravinia 2021 - Issue 1

“I’m looking forward to finally meeting these cats. We’re going to have a good time.” Brown drummer] Corey Fonville and [bassist/keyboardist] DJ Harrison. It’s really good back-beat, dancing music with some message in it. Were you hesitant to experiment with hip-hop? Jazz musicians can play anything—we choose to swing. We have all the tech- nical virtuosity that everybody else has, but we also act as composers in front of an audience, in collaboration with other musicians, and we declare with technical mastery some melodies that have never been heard before. I’ve done funk. Jazz bleeds into that realm. They are both American music. Hip- hop, jazz, funk, gospel, blues—they’re all from the same family tree. It wasn’t out of your comfort zone. No. It’s not where I reside, but I’m happy to visit for a while. How did someone who came of age at the height of ’70s Top 40 radio and rock’s dominance discover jazz? I was first pulled into it by the sound. By the recordings and the feelings. Music is an artform of emotion, mov- ing around the molecules, and getting into the bloodstream of the listener— and of the performer. Jazz affected me in peculiar way, and it called to me. I started hanging out with jazz musi- cians and people who were living the jazz lifestyle. They grabbed me by the arm and said, “You’re with us.” Was there a “jazz epiphany” for you? I was already sitting in, already hun- gry to learn more, already putting it out there in the Chicago jazz scene. But at the same time, I was in grad- uate school at the University of Chi- cago’s Divinity School. On one end, Von Freeman is encouraging me to sing just one more song until two in the morning in a lounge, and the next day I’m called to the professor’s office and he says [ Elling uses an exaggerated German accent ], “Mr. Elling, I have read your paper several times, and I have come to the conclusion that you don’t know what you’re talking about.” So, is that the door? [ Laughs ]. At that point I had nothing to lose. Were you close to finishing your master’s degree? Oh, yeah, I was only a credit or two shy. But I was pretty burnt out by then. The train was pulling out of the station. You can walk along the train, you can jog along next to the train, you can run with it, but eventually that train is going to go faster than you, and you’ll be just standing there. And that’s where I found myself. The Chicago jazz scene had a pro- found influence on you. Definitely. They gave me my vocation. Von [Freeman], Eddie Johnson, and Ed Petersen—chiefly the saxophone players seemed to hear something in me. But I’ve always had “Chicago bands.” Even when I was living in New York City, I had almost all Chica- goans in my band. And it’s one reason why we moved back. It’s home. Your first record contract was with Blue Note—the “Mount Everest” of jazz record labels. That must have been a thrill. It was definitely a shot in the arm. But it meant a different thing to me. To be signed by Blue Note was a valida- tion in the industry, but that wouldn’t have happened without the guys in Chicago pushing me and moving me. Then it was a matter of living up to the “Blue Note identity.” And singing what is worthy of my audience. What music do you consider “worthy” of your audience? The best possible, most appropriately targeted music that I can produce. Everything happens in context. Here I come to Ravinia amid COVID, and people are feeling a mix of emotions and I’m feeling a lot of those too. What’s the right music for me to sing that’s as satisfying to my audience as it will be for me? People who come to my shows trust me to challenge them and to not rest on my laurels—and offer music of the highest quality. Are you confident your audi- ence will follow your musical explorations? To varying degrees, you either stay close to the songbook or you deviate from it—it’s the launching pad. You want a family resemblance to your sound with the artists that came before. No one is genius enough to invent something whole cloth. You need to learn the context and the his- tory of the music; otherwise, you don’t love it. Jazz has set its standards, and I embrace them. Once you’ve got that, you have a lifetime of invigorating investigation in front of you. Which brings us back to your return to Ravinia. Oh, we’re going to have a ball. It’s going to be the band on the record. We’re going to have so much fun together. A lot of fun. James Turano is a freelance writer and a former entertainment editor, feature writer, and columnist for national and local magazines and newspapers. He has written official programs for eight Elton John tours since 2003 and is also a Chicago radio personality and host on WGN 720AM. RAVINIA MAGAZINE • JULY 1 – JULY 23, 2021 20

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