Iusually dislike the term vocalist when what people really mean is singer, but in the case of Kurt Elling, who's riding a critical wave with his latest recording, Dedicated to You: Kurt Elling Sings the Music of [John Coltrane] and [Johnny Hartman], it fits the man as perfectly as one of his well-tailored suits.

As [Helen White] said later, "It's certainly great fun to take a tune and switch it up like that. (Backup singers) Jodie (Borle) and Malissa (Magorel) were both sitting in the audience itching to join in on Centerpiece. It would have been marvellous for them to come up and we could have had a spontaneous scat fest! May have gone on for a long time, though -- next time, maybe."

He played drums in Benny Carter's band and later wrote Cubano Be/Cubano Bop for Dizzy Gillespie's orchestra. It premiered at Carnegie Hall in 1947 and was the first fusion of Afro-Cuban rhythms with jazz.