Kurt Elling - Early Life

Early Life

Kurt Elling was born in Chicago, Illinois on November 2, 1967 to Henry and Martha Elling. His interest in music started with his father, who was Kapellmeister at a Lutheran church. Elling attended elementary school at St. Paul Lutheran School in Rockford, and throughout his early years, he sang in choirs and played violin, French horn, piano, and drums. During his middle school years, Elling remembers watching Tony Bennett and the Woody Herman band on television and imagining what it would be like to sing with a band. Growing up, Elling sang in the classical style, learning counterpoint from the motets of Johann Sebastian Bach. At Rockford Lutheran High School, in Rockford,IL, Elling continued to sing in the choir: "When it was undeniably uncool and geeky and all that, to be in the choir, I did it anyway, because it was reliably beautiful, and it was rewarding, and it gave me gifts of experience and friendships."

Elling attended Gustavus Adolphus College in St. Peter, Minnesota, where he majored in history and minored in religion. In college, Elling sang in the 70-voice Gustavus Choir, an a cappella choir that performed works from a variety of different composers, allowing him to hone his technical skills. Elling also toured Europe with his college choir. He first became interested in jazz at Gustavus Adolphus, listening to Dave Brubeck, Dexter Gordon, Herbie Hancock, and Ella Fitzgerald, among others.

After graduating from Gustavus Adolphus in 1989, Elling enrolled in graduate school at the University of Chicago Divinity School where he studied for his master's degree in philosophy of religion. Elling thought about continuing work in academia or working for the World Council of Churches when he graduated. Elling began playing jazz gigs once a week during graduate school, with one of his first shows at Milt Trenier's, a basement club in Chicago (now defunct). Elling earned little money at these gigs, but Karl Johnson, the house pianist, was his mentor and teacher. Elling recalls: "By day I was reading Kant and Schleiermacher, trying to get a handle on that, and at night I was sitting-in in clubs, and, of course, you can't do both and be effective. Eventually Saturday night won out over Sunday morning." Elling remained a graduate student until January 1992, when he left school one credit short of graduation.

In Chicago, Elling held day jobs to survive, working as a bartender and even a mover. Elling made extra income singing at weddings in addition to playing at clubs. At this time, he began singing in a scat style and improvising his own lyrics. Elling began listening to the vocalese of jazz singer Mark Murphy, who exposed him to the poetry of Jack Kerouac. The minimalism and emotion of Chet Baker's music was also influential.