Mr. G's Humpday Happytracks - Wednesday, August 28, 2024: Kurt Elling and Jon Hendricks - Goin' to Chicago

Credit: William Ellis

Today's Humpday Happytrack is a version of the good old blues standard, Goin' to Chicago. This is a vocal duet by two great jazz vocalists.

The artists are Kurt Elling and Jon Hendricks. This track was recorded live in 1999 at Chicago's legendary jazz nightclub, The Green Mill. Mr. Elling is perhaps the preeminent male jazz vocalist in the world today - he is a baritone with a four-octave range! He was born in Chicago in 1968, raised in Rockford IL and launched his career in the city of his birth. He decamped to New York City (aka Mecca for jazz musicians) in 2008, but he still comes home frequently. Jon Hendricks is best-known for his work with Lambert, Hendricks and Ross, the jazz trio that popularized vocalese. He was one of the elder statesmen of the jazz vocal world when this duet was recorded.

Here's Goin' to Chicago by these two stellar singers. Click on the link and check it out!

Whay do I love this track?

First of all, Elling and Hendricks are obviously having a lot of fun, and I can feel the respect and love flowing between these two.  It's wonderful when a current artist like Elling can work with one of his heroes from the preceding generation.

Secondly, I love the spare arrangement! It is just the two singers and Rob Amster's bass walking throught the blues changes. This gives Elling and Hendricks room to stretch out. Make no mistake - this is the real blues, people!

Third, the vocalese intro by Elling. I live in the Chicago area and love the city, and Elling's proud declarations about the city's virtues causes me to nod vigorously in agreement.

Finally, the Green Mill audience reactions became part of the performance. The Green Mill is a small room and the interaction between performers and audience members is intense and sort of intimate.

Elling won two Grammys. Hendricks was a giant of American music - the Lambert Hendricks and Ross song, Twisted was covered by Joni Mitchell. These two jazz guys have an extensive discography - dig in!!

Liquid Soul is Back and Boy, Do We Need This Band.

 

Liquid Soul is a Chicago-based ensemble that was launched around 1993 - they are approaching the 30th anniversary of the group's birth. The picture above captures a fraction of the group - the horn section, which includes Mars Williams on saxophones, John Janowiak on trombone and Ron Haynes on trumpet.  This has always been a large ensemble - guitar, bass, drums, turntablist and two rappers/singers backed the horns on June 9, 2022 when the group played at SPACE in my hometown of Evanston IL.  I was there and it was an uplifting event, ice water breaking the long dry spell created by this pandemic.

Mars Williams and DJ Jesse De La Pena formed Liquid Soul after meeting up at the Elbo Room in the early 1990's. They gathered up some other musicians and hip hop artists and started playing as Liquid Soul on Sunday nights. Word of the group's unique make-up and sound spread quickly, and Liquid Soul had to move to a larger venue (the Double Door in the Wicker Park neighborhood in Chicago).  The Liquid Soul smash-up of hard bop, free jazz, jazz fusion, funk, R&B,  and hip hop was labeled as acid jazz, which launched in London during the 1980's. British DJ's were adding beats and electronics to classic jazz tunes from the 1950's and 1960's, and these very danceable grooves became popular in the dance clubs of London. The acid jazz "movement" didn't hit the U.S. until the early 1990's, and Liquid Soul caught the wave. They band almost made it into the mainstream. The group released its first album in 1996, and Liquid Soul's second record, "Here's the Deal,"  was nominated for a Grammy as "Best Contemporary Jazz Album: in 2001. They opened for Sting at Central Park in New York. They played the Newport Jazz Festival. 

In the late 1990's, Liquid Soul was everywhere in Chicago. They attracted a huge following at Elbo Room and Double Door - the professional athletes (Bears & Bulls) liked to hang out when they were playing. They played at Dennis Rodman's birthday party.  It was Camelot from a musical perspective. Liquid Soul was the Midwest version of acid jazz/hip hop - unique, extremely musical, danceable, crazy creative and improvisational!!!!

The band flirted with a breakthrough, but Mars Williams got a gig with Psychedelic Furs around 2003. Liquid Soul was a huge ensemble, it was expensive to tour and the music did not attract a massive following - the acid jazz/jam band folks loved it, but that isn't a huge audience. The band broke up for a while and re-formed. It has performed sporadically over the past 15 years or so. They have come out of the Covid pandemic slowdown and are playing gigs again around the Chicago area. 

They band was great on June 9, but OMG they were LOUD!! SPACE is a small room. I turned on my sound meter app on my phone and the levels hit 115 decibels!!  That is almost as loud as a chainsaw at close range. I blame the sound man at SPACE for this. Liquid Soul is not really a super loud band, but a huge sound system in a small room leads to hearing damage. I had to wear earplugs, which messed up the sound of the band.

I was delighted that they played their hip-hop version of Salt Peanuts on June 9. Here is the video of that tune, featuring Kurt Elling at the beginning.

This group is still totally relevant, and I hope they have great success.