The Art of the Song: Kate Kortum and Ekep Nkwelle New York Performances

At Jazz at Lincoln Center, *The Art of the Song* brings Kate Kortum and Ekep Nkwelle into close conversation about what a jazz song can hold. The set places Kortum’s writing and performance style alongside Nkwelle’s, tracing how melody, lyric, and improvisation shape narrative on a major New York stage. Jazz at Lincoln Center has long functioned as an institutional touchstone for the city’s jazz life, and this pairing reads as a study in contemporary songcraft. One clear takeaway is how differently each artist treats time and phrasing, even when working from similar materials.