New Jersey Stage logo
New Jersey Stage Menu



 

Kurt Elling LIVE! at SOPAC


By Spotlight Central, Photos by Love Imagery

originally published: 04/11/2025

Inside South Orange, NJ’s SOPAC auditorium this Thursday, April 3, 2025 evening, elegant people who love jazz ready themselves for a concert entitled Kurt Elling Celebrates Weather Report.

Kurt Elling is a jazz singer/songwriter who has been nominated for 17 Grammy awards and has twice won the “Best Vocal Jazz Album” award. A crooner with a four-octave range, Elling is known as a writer and performer of vocalese, a style of jazz singing where the performer sings recognizable lyrics to pre-existing jazz melodies and solos.

Weather Report was a jazz fusion band which starred, among others, keyboardist Joe Zawinul, saxophonist Wayne Shorter, and bassist Jaco Pastorius. One of the defining modern jazz groups of the ’70s and early ’80s, Weather Report received multiple Grammy Award nominations including a win for “Best Jazz Fusion Performance,” in addition to receiving DownBeat’s “Best Album Award” five times in a row.

The lights dim and the crowd cheers as keyboardist Julius Rodriguez, guitarist Mike Moreno, bassist Essiet Okon Essiet, and drummer Marcus Finnie take their places on stage along with vocalist Kurt Elling.

Opening with a vocalese arrangement of the Wayne Shorter jazz fusion piece, “Elegant People,” Elling starts off by vocalizing in his strong baritone voice, “Hey/No matter what people say…,” prior to effortlessly singing up, down, and around the tune’s skipping melody.




Advertise with NJ Stage for $50-$100 per month, click here for info



Deftly accompanied by Essiet Okon Essiet on bass and Julius Rodriguez on keyboards, Mike Moreno is featured on a lyrical guitar solo and Marcus Finnie plays a rhythmic drum solo before Elling holds out a long note on the coda to avid cheers and applause.

Elling welcomes tonight’s crowd, stating, “Ah, beautiful, elegant people — thanks for coming out on a school night!” Rapping like a beat poet, Elling exclaims, “We’re gonna juice you with some joy juice!” as he and the band shift into a vocalese version of Jaco Pastorius’ “Continuum.” On this fusion piece’s a cappella intro, Elling shows off his dynamic range singing “It isn’t easy/You’ll have to show some spine” before the band joins in and Julius Rodriguez plays a lighting fast bebop-style piano solo prior to slowing down for Elling to conclude, “Be your own work of art.”

Music lovers hoot and holler and Elling praises the talent of Weather Report’s Jaco Pastorius noting that his innovative style of bass playing opened up “a gateway to imagination.” After mentioning Pastorius’ courage in the face of life’s challenges, Elling wonders, “How are we going to distill our essence into the greatest explosion of joy?” prior to proposing, “We’re gonna have to work together on that one!” and suggesting, “Maybe that’s why we teach our children ‘The Itsy-Bitsy Spider’ — the fight song of the human race!” Here, Elling waltzes into “3 Views,” a 3/4-time jazz tune where he poses the question in song, “What if every road leads the same way home?”

Mike Moreno renders a yearning electric guitar solo, Marcus Finnie adds precision cymbal and snare rolls, and Rodriguez is spotlighted on a keyboard solo which cascades downwards before he and Elling engage in a piano/voice duel to enthusiastic cheers and applause.

Bassist Essiet Okon Essiet incorporates a snippet of Weather Report’s “Birdland” as he plays the intro to Joe Zawinul’s “Black Market.” After Essiet adds chords to the mix on this world music piece, Elling enters the fray rapidly scat-singing syllables and inspiring cheers from the crowd for his sizzling vocal solo.

Rodriguez follows up by channeling Joe Zawinul as he’s featured on the synthesizer while Elling plays tambourine and Essiet and Finnie percolate on bass and drums.

Elling talks about how he obtained permission from the various members of Weather Report — notably Joe Zawinul, Wayne Shorter, and the family of Jaco Pastorius — to create lyrics to their instrumental compositions prior to sharing a personal story about meeting Joe Zawinul at a Los Angeles party.




Advertise with NJ Stage for $50-$100 per month, click here for info



Elling confesses that in creating the vocalese lyrics to “Current Affairs,” instead of using the title as a story-starter, he wrote the lyrics about his daughter who, in the process of emerging from childhood, “wanted to hold on, yet wanted to go on.” Accompanied by the sound of Rodriguez’s keyboard, Elling croons, “Once you walked/Through your time/In a kind of shyness/Knowing life/Would spin and wind/In paths of shading vines,” on this vocalese arrangement of Zawinul’s dynamic Weather Report ballad.

Rodriguez’s fingers fly on a synthesizer solo as the ensemble joins in and plays with ever increasing dynamics and music lovers in the crowd respond with enthusiastic whistles and cheers.

Elling and Co. follow up with a vocalese interpretation of Wayne Shorter’s upbeat and percussive jazz fusion piece, “Palladium,” where Elling cries, “Let me know the way!” before Rodriguez plays a funky keyboard solo and Elling and Finnie engage in a verbal/percussion “drum-off” to enthusiastic cheers.

The crowd responds with a standing ovation and Elling exclaims, “Thank you so much! Take care of each other!” Following a group bow, Elling and the ensemble exit the stage but soon return and Elling says, “I’m so happy that you could all come out tonight,” to which a fan calls out, “So are we!”

After joking, “Thank you for your passionate reception of our shenanigans up here!” Elling counts off an encore vocalese version of Joe Zawinul’s “A Remark You Made.” On this lovely ballad, Mike Moreno renders an emotional guitar solo and the musicians give a dynamic performance which concludes when Elling sings, “It’s time to say goodbye,” to inspired cheers and applause.

To learn more about Kurt Elling, please go to kurtelling.com. For information on future performances at SOPAC — including The Glenn Miller Orchestra on May 15, Avery Sunshine on June 6, and Darlene Love on June 12 — please go to sopacnow.org.

Photos by Love Imagery

Spotlight Central. Your source for Jersey entertainment news and reviews

Love Imagery Fine Art Photography. all you need. peace/love/flower/power




Advertise with NJ Stage for $50-$100 per month, click here for info



FEATURED EVENTS

ART | COMEDY | DANCE | FILM | MUSIC | THEATRE | COMMUNITY

To narrow results by date range, categories,
or region of New Jersey
click here for our advanced search.


Kean

Kean University Orchestra

Tuesday, April 29, 2025 @ 7:30pm
Kean Stage - Enlow Recital Hall
215 North Avenue, Hillside, NJ 07205
category: music


 

Candlelight

Candlelight Spring: Tribute to Coldplay

Wednesday, April 30, 2025 @ 7:00pm
Monmouth University - Pollak Theatre
400 Cedar Avenue, West Long Branch, NJ 07764
category: music


 

The

The Concert: A Tribute to ABBA

Thursday, May 01, 2025 @ 7:30pm
Mayo Performing Arts Center (MPAC)
100 South Street, Morristown, NJ 07960
category: music


 

Bruce

Bruce Hornsby and yMusic present BrhyM

Thursday, May 01, 2025 @ 7:00pm
Bergen Performing Arts Center (bergenPAC)
30 North Van Brunt Street, Englewood, NJ 07631
category: music


 

Knuffle

Knuffle Bunny: A Cautionary Musical

Friday, May 02, 2025 @ 7:30pm
The Historic Palace Theatre
7 Ledgewood Avenue, Netcong, NJ 07857
category: music


 


 

EVENT PREVIEWS

Monmouth

Monmouth University's Tuesday Night Record Club Celebrates 100th Album on May 6th

(WEST LONG BRANCH, NJ) -- Monmouth University will celebrate the 100th episode of its popular Tuesday Night Record Club series on May 6, 2025 at 7:30pm with Michael Jackson's classic 1979 album, Off the Wall. Attendees can register today to join this free event either in-person at the University's Great Hall Auditorium on campus, or via Zoom.



Newton

Newton Theatre presents The Ultimate Queen Celebration

(NEWTON, NJ) -- The Ultimate Queen Celebration comes to The Newton Theatre on Friday, July 18, 2025. The band features vocalist Yvan Pedneault (endorsed by Queen) and backed by some of the finest musicians on the scene who have toured with the likes of Trans-Siberian Orchestra, Rock of Ages, Cher and more. Doors are at 7:00pm, showtime is 8:00pm.



Hoboken

Hoboken Spring Arts & Music Festival to Take Place May 18th

(HOBOKEN, NJ) -- Mayor Ravi S. Bhalla and the City of Hoboken invite residents and visitors to the annual Hoboken Spring Arts & Music Festival on Sunday, May 18, 2025 from 11:00am to 6:00pm on Washington Street, between Observer Highway and Seventh Street. The event attracts over 30,000 visitors each spring and showcases the city's vibrant cultural scene. It features live musical performances on two stages, a variety of eateries, and over 300 artists, makers, crafters, and vendors.



The

The Broadway Theatre of Pitman presents The Ultimate Michael Jackson Experience starring Joby Rogers

(PITMAN, NJ) -- The Broadway Theatre of Pitman presents The Ultimate Michael Jackson Experience starring Joby Rogers on Saturday, May 24, 2025 at 8:00pm. The show celebrates the music and dancing of the Legendary 'King of Pop', Michael Jackson. This multimedia theatrical experience takes audiences on a Visual and Musical Journey through the life of the greatest entertainer of all time.



New

New Jersey Talent will be featured during 2025 North to Shore Festival

Prolific Asbury Park singer and songwriter Alexander Simone (grandson of the legendary Nina), Atlantic City's R&B songstress Mary Cross, and the pioneering female rapper, Newark's MC Rah Digga, are just a few of the beloved local talents who will present events as part of this year's Prudential North to Shore Festival. Performances and programs will be held June 14-29, 2025 in Asbury Park and Newark, while performances in Atlantic City will extend throughout the coming year.