I try to stick with things that I can sing with honesty.
Interpretation
The quote emphasizes the importance of authenticity in one's expression, particularly in music.
Kurt Elling's quote highlights the significance of sincerity in artistic endeavors. By stating that he tries to stick with things he can sing about honestly, he implies that genuine expression enhances the value and impact of art. It suggests that authenticity resonates more profoundly with audiences, creating a deeper connection between the artist and their work.
In practice
A musician might use this quote to inspire a songwriting workshop focused on personal experiences.
It helps me to learn things in different languages, even if it's just phonetically, and to make myself vulnerable to other audiences by trying to reflect back to them the genius of their own cultures, and to do that, oftentimes, in new jazz settings, new arrangements. It's a way to show respect.
That's the thing: There are so many art songs in jazz. It's a much more rich experience for the singer than people think.
One doesn't have to scat to be a jazz singer.
I'm one of the culprits who keeps turning stuff around, shaking up original tunes and trying to stand the canon on its ear. But sometimes, you just need to sing the song.
I've spent most of my life embracing violence in wars and revolutions. Even a famine is a form of violence. Because I photograph people in peril, people in pain, people being executed in front of me, I find it very difficult to get my head around the art narrative of photography.
My business is to be talented, that is, to be capable of selecting the important moments from the trivial ones. . . . It's about time for writers - particularly those who are genuine artists - to recognize that in this world you cannot figure out everything. Just have a writer who the crowds trust be courageous enough and declare that he does not understand everything, and that alone will represent a major contribution to the way people think, a long leap forward.
Double, double, toil and trouble; Fire burn, and cauldron bubble!
When you go to a great concert, you feel this arc, almost like the music of a well-chosen set takes you on this trip through emotions and through various forms of intellectual engagement.
For me, purity of movement wasn't enough. I needed expression, more intensity, more mind.
At Vienna, one of the audience affirmed publicly that my performance was not surprising, for he had distinctly seen, while I was playing my variations, the devil at my elbow, directing my arm and guiding my bow. My resemblance to the devil was a proof of my origin.
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