I first heard Kurt Elling on Later with Jools Holland. The Waking completely blew me away. I can't remember the last time a song had such a profound impact on me.
The recorded official version of this song along with the "Man in the Air" album makes a strong case Kurt Elling is the strongest vocalist of our time -IMHO
Rob Amster is absolutely amazing in this song. The fact that this song is different each time they perform it shows the ability of both Rob and Kurt. It's stunning that Rob has the presence to be able to tune his bass and keep the rhythm. That is really tough to do, especially in a song this difficult. Props to supadupasoja for getting this video, one of my absolute favorites.
The bass player was hearing it and attempted to tune during the tune. I thought it was interesting he was tuning to Kurt 's voice. I'm pretty sure Kurt has perfect pitch.
Try listening to the text more carefully and looking at Theodore Roethke's work. Having heard this done live several times, youtube cannot capture its essence, or its place within the context of the rep he does before and after it, IMHO
Respect to the audiance being quiet and listening to the mans range.. This song is lytival masterpeice. The linely worn climbs up the winding stairs. Jools holland performace is better though.
