LIGHTING THE BEACON

Picking at his weight-conscious lunch of Brussels sprouts, blistered shishito peppers, and wine at an Italian place near his Upper West Side Manhattan home, Kurt Elling recalls a favorite bit about body image from the comedian Tom Papa, whose Netflix special he has just watched.

“Look at you … you’re doing great!” he intones, mimicking Papa’s sing-song delivery with uncanny accuracy. “You’re a little chubby … we’re all a little chubby. You’re doing great! So you’re not built like an Olympic athlete. You’re not an Olympic athlete.” He laughs uproariously.

Then, more seriously, reflecting on how self-critical Americans tend to be, he adds, “We’ve been sold a bill of goods, man! Everything that makes this economy run is based upon fear and self-judgment, and venal declarations, man, and exploitation … Everything but this record!” he hastens to add with a smile.

“A shining beacon of integrity?” I suggest.

“That’s right. If you’re gonna buy one record this year …”

The record in question is Elling’s newest, Secrets Are the Best Stories (Edition), a duo project with Danilo Pérez, the much-admired Panamanian pianist, composer, and 12-year veteran of the Wayne Shorter Quartet. The record also features Elling’s longtime bassist Clark Sommers, percussionist Rogério Boccato, drummer Johnathan Blake, and guest appearances by guitarist Chico Pinheiro, alto saxophonist Miguel Zenón, and Cuban percussion master Román Díaz.

There is more than one irony, however, in Elling—who doesn’t appear to have an inch of fat on his 52-year-old body—joking about self-criticism. , among many other awards and accolades, he is modest about his achievements and self-critical to a fault. At one point in our conversation he blurts out, “Man, I sure wish I could sing better.” To paraphrase what an anonymous music publisher once said about Irving Berlin: “It must be hell being him. The guy’s his own toughest competition.”