Photo by Andrea Canter

Curtis Stigers “may be the most convincing ballad singer in jazz,” says the New York Times. Originally a pop crooner and sax player who has found a legitimate home in jazz, Stigers will return to the Dakota for a two-night stand (April 19-20), then head east to the Jazz Standard in New York (April 21-24) in celebration of the official release of his new Concord recording, I Think It's Going to Rain Today. Praised for his jazz interpretations of wide ranging material, from covers of Merle Haggard and the Beatles to contemporary pop of Billy Joel and jazz standards,his 2003 release, You Inspire Me, was named best of the year by the London Times, and critically acclaimed for its “passion, insight, adventurousness, and a singular soulful voice.”

As a teen growing up in Boise, Idaho, Stigers’s adventures in music started out with the clarinet, then drums, and finally sax and voice. Although already interested in jazz, his direction jelled when pianist Gene Harris (known for his work with the Three Sounds, Stanley Turrentine, and Nat Adderley) moved to Boise and took an interest in Stigers as both mentor and friend. Coaxed out of retirement by Ray Brown in the mid-80s, Harris had performed regularly at a local hotel in Boise and let Stigers sit in from the age of 15. “Most of all, he taught me that music is always about what you love and how you put yourself into it. He was a genuine professional music role model, and a jazz legend to boot, and you don't often get that growing up in a small town."

Photo by Andrea Canter

In 1987, Stigers left his “small town” for New York, where he soon had a contract with Arista Records. His first recording was a pop hit, selling two million and leading to appearances on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno and Late Night with David Letterman, and tours with Elton John, Eric Clapton, Bonnie Raitt, and Rod Stewart. In 1992 he had another pop hit when his rendition of Nick Lowe’s "(What's So Funny 'Bout) Peace, Love and Understanding" was included on the soundtrack to The Body Guard. After tours with Al Green, Suzzy Roche, Carole King, Jackson Browne and others, Stigers turned back to jazz. "I realized jazz was what I needed to be doing," he says. "I wanted to return to my roots." He performed with Toots Thielemans, Jimmy Scott, and Randy Brecker, and in a sax choir at President Bill Clinton's 1993 Inauguration with Michael Brecker, David Sanborn, Grover Washington, and Gerry Mulligan. In the mid-90s, Stigers’ mentor Gene Harris invited him to sing on two recordings, the gospel CD In His Hands and Down Home Blues with Brother Jack McDuff.

His first jazz recording, Baby Plays Around (Concord, 2001), earned him rave reviews as "a jazz singer in the best sense" (San Francisco Chronicle). Mojo noted that "Stigers manages to be both as authoritative as a veteran and as fresh as an ingenue." He followed up with Secret Heart (Concord, 2002), covering Steve Earle, Randy Newman, Cole Porter, and Johnny Mercer. You Inspire Me (Concord, 2003) followed and is "first and foremost …about the songs," says Stigers. "Great songs by modern songwriters who have inspired me. This album is a little less straight-ahead than my previous releases, more experimental. More twisted.” The recording, I Think It's Going to Rain Today, includes a collection of songs by some of the world’s greatest songwriters of our time—Sting, Randy Newman, Mose Allison, Willie Nelson and Tom Waits, as well as two new Stigers originals.

On his new tour, audiences at the Dakota and Jazz Standard can expect new twists on standards and widely diverse tunes from modern music, as well as inspired original songs, in a voice described as “a blend of Nat King Cole and Mose Allison without the irony” (London Guardian), “a potent blend of Sting and Jimmy Scott” (Jazz Times), “a bebop Ray Charles” (Mojo), and “his generation's answer to Tony Bennett” (Minneapolis’ Star Tribune).

Or, in other words, Curtis Stigers brings his own voice to the stage.

Catch Curtis Stigers at the Dakota in Minneapolis, April 19-20 (www.dakotacooks.com) and at the Jazz Standard in Manhattan, April 21-24 (www.jazzstandard.net). Throught much of May, Stigers will be performing across North Carolina. For more information, including his touring schedule, see www.curtisstigers.com