The Gate

On this sleek 2011 album, singer Kurt Elling reinforces the notion that jazz needn’t be tied to old-fashioned material. His band aids his transformation of unlikely material, bringing mahogany richness to the King Crimson ballad “Matte Kudasai” or boldly remaking The Beatles’ “Norwegian Wood” as a jazz-pop marvel à la Joni Mitchell. Yet even when tackling something like Al Jarreau’s adaptation of the smouldering Miles Davis ballad “Blue In Green,” he brings a melodic splendour balancing meditative depth and a finely wrought graininess.