jj10

Chicago jazz singer Kurt Elling has been nominated for Grammy Awards so Links of London that it seems inevitable he'll pick up the prize sooner or later. In truth, he deserved to win years ago, for visionary work such as his brilliant debut CD, "Close Your Eyes" (1995), and its innovative follow-ups, particularly "The Messenger" (1997) and "Man in the Air" (2003). Yet for all the polish and sincerity of Elling's much-anticipated new release, "Dedicated to You" (Concord Jazz), the recording, alas, does not make his strongest possible case. Warmly recorded and Links of London Sweetie Wide Ring delivered, it nonetheless shows Elling -- the most ferocious male singer in jazz today -- at his most restrained. Hard-core Elling fans (and they are numerous) will welcome "Dedicated to You" for the luster of its sound and the ease of its delivery. Others will wish that one of these days Elling would recapture the fire of his youth, or at least try to. Conceived as an evocation of the classic ballad album "John Coltrane and Johnny Hartman," Elling's CD Links of London Sirens Leaf Earrings shows in its high-toned aspirations. A string quartet plays luscious, yearning phrases; pianist Laurence Hobgood lays down a melodramatic vamp; Elling begins crooning the long lines of Frank Sinatra's first great hit, "All or Nothing at All." Then it's on to the repertoire of the Coltrane-Links of London Raindance Earrings album, which proves serenely melodic at first but eventually settles into an affable predictability.