Orlando le Fleming, Will Vinson & Lage Lund - Life of the Party (2022)

The listener can hear in this intimate album the same ambience and intellectual curiosity that appealed to Kurt in the small Brooklyn club where he first heard the OWL Trio's Orlando Le Fleming, Will Vinson, and Lage Lund. In this drumless and pristine supportive context, Kurt, by his own admission has “nowhere to hide.” In this music, a “whisper will carry instead of a shout” and Kurt doesn’t need to blazingly proclaim his intentions – he can simply let them glow.

Featuring Will Vinson on alto saxophone, Lage Lund on guitar, Orlando le Fleming on bass, and Kurt Elling on vocals on "Life of the Party" and "Perfectly Out of Place." Photography by Tim Barber.