Kurt Elling & The Yellowjackets

Modern jazz giants Kurt Elling and The Yellowjackets make their joint debut on the Miner Auditorium stage in tribute to the groundbreaking fusion of Joe Zawinul and Wayne Shorter’s Weather Report. 

There is simply no artist in jazz having more fun than vocalist Kurt Elling. Over the past decade, the 17-time GRAMMY Award nominee (and two-time GRAMMY winner) has cut loose, following his quicksilver muse wherever it flows. Whether he’s reinventing pop and rock hits with guitar wizard Charlie Hunter, crooning standards with the New York Philharmonic and Germany’s WDR Big Band, or thriving in the volatile fray of the Branford Marsalis Quartet, Elling has been seizing any interesting opportunity to stretch his wings.

One of his latest flights is a project with The Yellowjackets featuring his lyrics for seminal Weather Report compositions by Shorter and Zawinul. A brilliant wordsmith, Elling introduced several of the pieces with the SFJAZZ Collective last year. With The Yellowjackets he soars into the universe of fusion’s definitive band, transforming beloved instrumental pieces into enthralling songs. It’s a powerhouse collaboration that captures the celestial explorations, deep funk, world rhythms, and extended forms that made Weather Report a creative juggernaut.