With seven Grammy nominations already to his credit, vocalist Kurt Elling has attained elite status in the jazz world before reaching the age of 40. Riding to international prominence on the strength of his critically acclaimed performances as well as a string of stellar recordings for the Blue Note label, the perennial poll-winner has become the voice of a new generation of jazz fans. He's been called "the most flamboyantly creative jazz singer to emerge in the last decade" by the San Francisco Chronicle and was recently named Down Beat's Male Vocalist of the year in both Critics and Readers polls for 2006 (the third time he's won the top spot in both polls). And though he continues to operate in his own singular orbit, the Chicago native is following in the footsteps of vocalese pioneers like Eddie Jefferson, King Pleasure, Jon Hendricks and perhaps his single biggest influence, Mark Murphy. Combining thought-provoking lyrics with clever arrangements, surprising choices of material and an infinite capacity to swing, Elling has forged a potent body of work since his 1995 debut that is marked by quality, consistency and an audacious sense of risk-taking.

Elling has been giving his considerable vocals gifts to fans for the past 12 years, since his recording career began at age 27 with the 1995 release of Close Your Eyes, the first of his consecutive string of six Grammy nominated albums. In 1997, Playboy magazine named him "Male Jazz Vocalist of the '90s" and in 2002 Jazz Review (UK) raised the possibility that "Elling may be the greatest male jazz singer of all time." Kurt has been named Top Male Vocalist by the Jazz Journalists Association three times and has topped the Down Beat Critics Poll and the Jazz Times Readers Poll every year since 2000.

In 2002, Elling produced a vocal summit entitled "Four Brothers" at Chicago's Park West Theater, which featured Elling, Mark Murphy, Kevin Mahogany and Jon Hendricks. Kurt led the group on successful tours of Europe and the U.S. in 2003 and 2004. A final blowout performance in the summer of 2005 took place in Chicago's Millennium Park and featured Sheila Jordan in place of Mahogany. It was called "Three Brotha’s and a Motha’." Elling was commissioned by the City of Chicago to mount a large scale multi-media presentation entitled "This Is Our Music, These Are Our People" for the city's week-long millennial celebration. He has also created provocative theater pieces for Chicago's Steppenwolf Theater.

In addition to his work as an artist, Elling served as a national trustee for the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences beginning in 1999. In May of 2003, he was elected Vice Chair of the 17,000-member organization and served two successful terms. During that time he helped create and hosted the first two annual Recording Academy Salutes to Jazz. He also oversaw the creation of the Academy's Lifetime Achievement and Trustees Awards Review Committee.

Elling's most recent album for Concord Records, Nightmoves, was released in April 2007.