If you live in New York this week you are a lucky, lucky person. All week long is the New York City Jazz Festival. It’s time to plunk down $40 on some of the best musicians you’ve ever heard – screw your binge-drinking or the down payment on those fancy shoes.
Last night I went to Birdland and saw Kurt Elling. Holy shit. This guy is everything that is right about music. He is hands down one of the best vocalists I have ever heard in my life. He’s doing 2 sets a night (at 9 and 11) for the rest of the week through Saturday night. Tickets are $40 and if you show up early they’ll get you a table right up front. If you’re in the mood to have a drink or two (and you’d better be since there’s a $10 minimum) and hear some AWESOME music, go check it out. They also serve dinner and though I just had some assorted fruits and cheeses they were fantastic.
You can probably show up tonight without making a reservation and just pay at your table, but I wouldn’t recommend it for Thursday, Friday and Saturday. You can pre-buy the $40 cover online and check the schedules and performers here. If you’re interested in Kurt Elling, just go check out his website.
Some of the highlights from the set I saw were Nature Boy, Never My Love, the first tune he did was awesome but I don’t know the name of it, and then as a finale he sang a tune that he wrote the lyrics too called Time To Say Goodbye – it was just amazing.