| Kurt Rosenwinkel – Reflections (2009) |
Kurt Rosenwinkel – Reflections
Born: October 28, 1970, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States // Location: Berlin, Germany
Album release: November 2009
Genre: Jazz, Guitar
Record Label: Wommusic / http://www.wommusic.com
Total Time: 50:56 min
Product Description:
Personnel:
Kurt Rosenwinkel – Guitar
Eric Revis – Bass
Eric Harland – Drums
Released: November, 2009
Recorded: June 18-20, 2009, at Brooklyn Recording, Brooklyn, New York
Tracklist:
1. "Reflections" Thelonious Monk 9:12
2. "You Go To My Head" John Frederick Coots / Haven Gillespie 3:36
3. "Fall" Wayne Shorter 4:02
4. "East Coast Love Affair" Kurt Rosenwinkel 9:53
5. "Ask Me Now" Thelonious Monk 5:22
6. "Ana Maria" Wayne Shorter 6:27
7. "More Than You Know" Vincent Youmans / Billy Rose / Edward Eliscu 8:58
8. "You've Changed" Bill Carey / Carl Fischer 3:15
Tom Moon review at NPR: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=120684156 /// Jeff Tamarkin at Allmusic.com: http://www.allmusic.com/album/r1702923 /// Website: http://www.kurtrosenwinkel.com/
Kurt Rosenwinkel has always given us music that has conveyed a sense of masterful story- telling & breathtaking imaginative reach. His significance to the ever-evolving jazz tradition in fact transcends the oft-cited lineage of jazz guitar in much the same way that Thelonious Monk and Wayne Shorter both impacted colleagues much beyond the scope of their respective instruments. For what has perhaps distinguished Kurt more than anything is his one-of-a-kind compositional voice – full of mystery and power, marked by an effortless marriage of high complexity and simple, undeniable emotional appeal. These qualities, hallmarks of Kurt’s output from the beginning, are apparent perhaps as never before on a new big band release, Kurt Rosenwinkel & OJM: Our Secret World.
In recent years, Rosenwinkel has had several opportunities to play his music with a number of different big bands, from a Nonet at the Pori Jazz Festival in Finland to the famous Concertgebouw Orchestra in The Netherlands, and he grew tantalized by the expanded textures that a large ensemble could offer his far-reaching compositions. Then in 2007 Rosenwinkel got a call from the Orquestra Jazz de Matosinhos (OJM), a Portugal-based big band with an impressive track record of collaborative projects, ranging from Portology with Lee Konitz and Ohad Talmor, over Orquestra Jazz de Matosinhos Invites Chris Cheek, featuring the acclaimed American saxophonist, to performances with Maria Rita – the highly successful and critically acclaimed daughter of Elis Regina.
Following a series of successful concerts in Portugal in 2008, Rosenwinkel and OJM decided to pursue this recording project, which took place over a 6 day period in September 2009. “We had three days of rehearsal which were totally intense – 12-hour rehearsals with almost no breaks,” Rosenwinkel recalls. “What made the whole project work was the attitude and enthusiasm of all the musicians. I really felt that everybody was supporting me, supporting the music, and really giving their best. It was a great challenge for them and they rose to the occasion. The spirit that was present during the whole thing was just beautiful.”
Now the OJM can add to that collaborative track record Our Secret World, a set of Rosenwinkel compositions heard in gripping new arrangements for large ensemble. Our Secret World is Kurt’s third release on the independent Wommusic imprint, following 2009′s acclaimed Standards Trio offering, entitled Reflections and his 2008 album entitled The Remedy – Live At The Village Vanguard (initially distributed via Artistshare).
The specific Rosenwinkel cuts heard on Our Secret World were chosen solely by OJM arrangers Carlos Azevedo and Pedro Guedes, with no advance input from the composer with the one exception of track 4 “Dream of the Old”. “I’ve got to hand it to them,” says Rosenwinkel. “They chose the hardest stuff from my repertoire. I was psyched – it gave me a really good indication of how serious they were.”
The results are indeed serious, and stunning: Azevedo brought a firm yet sensitive touch to “Our Secret World” (from Heartcore), “Zhivago” (from The Next Step), “Dream of the Old” (from The Enemies of Energy) and “Turns” (previously unreleased, though long part of Rosenwinkel’s live small- group sets). Guedes weighed in with a poetic reimagining of “Use of Light” (from Deep Song as well as The Next Step).
In addition, Ohad Talmor, a saxophonist and gifted composer in his own right, was approached by OJM to arrange two of Rosenwinkel’s pieces, “The Cloister” (from Deep Song) and “Path of the Heart” (from The Next Step). “Ohad was a special case,” says Rosenwinkel, “because he did something completely radical. We met before the session and I told him, ‘Go ahead, make new sections, do whatever you want.’ And he ran with it. His arrangements are like a cubist reorganization of my songs, using what I wrote as RAM. He put it in a bag, shook it up, and saw where it came out.”
There are a host of details to be savored on Our Secret World, from the high-pressure intensity of “Turns” to the aching microtonal inflections on the out-chorus of “Use of Light”; from the explosive reeds soli on “Zhivago” to the doubling of bass clarinet and Rosenwinkel’s vulnerable singing voice on “Dream of the Old.” Even with Talmor’s more extensive and sweeping rearrangements, the elusive qualities and melodic intentions of the original pieces still lurk deep within.
Together, all the arrangers involved in Our Secret World struck an ideal balance, emphasizing different aspects of Rosenwinkel’s identity and highlighting a quality summed up by The Ottawa Citizen’s jazz critic Peter Hum: “It’s a special triumph when art like Rosenwinkel’s makes the strange so familiar.”The biggest challenge, Rosenwinkel recalls, was serving as “the main narrative or protagonist voice leading a big band. It requires great strength to be the melodic voice that’s supported by that much energy. You have to figure out how to make yourself the final element that’s going to crest the entire arrangement and unify it. You have to invent the way to take it from here to there. You have to choose your moments, strategize about how to enter and how to exit, with what attitude, in what register. I couldn’t just walk in and play my song as I knew it. It’s a kind of artistry that’s specific to being a soloist with a big band. That was a unique challenge for me, and I think a real milestone.” ///// Style:
Rosenwinkel is known for his distinct sound and style of improvisation. He describes his influences as artists as diverse as Allan Holdsworth, George Van Eps, Duke Ellington, John Coltrane, Bud Powell, and Elmo Hope and The Notorious B.I.G.
Equipment:
Kurt simultaneously utilizes a wide variety of effects units, each with a very specific function and effect on the guitar's sound. Included in his pedal chain is the Pro Co RAT distortion, TC Electronic reverb, Lehle D. Loop effect-loop/switcher, Electro-Harmonix HOG polyphonic guitar synthesizer, two Empress ParaEq equalizers, Eventide TimeFactor delay, four Xotic X-Blender effects loops, Empress Tremolo, Lehle Parallel line mixer, TC Electronic SCF stereo chorus flanger, and Boss Corporation OC-3 octave, among others. Most often seen playing his D'Angelico New Yorker semi-hollow guitar, Kurt also plays a Sadowsky semi-hollow, a cherry red Gibson ES-335, and more recently two custom guitars made for Kurt by Italian guitar maker and master luthier Domenico Moffa. 
Discography:
Leader:
1996 - Kurt Rosenwinkel Trio - East Coast Love Affair - (Fresh Sound New Talent)
1998 - Kurt Rosenwinkel Quartet - Intuit - (Criss Cross)
Unreleased - Kurt Rosenwinkel - Under It All
2000 - Kurt Rosenwinkel - The Enemies of Energy - (Verve Records)
2001 - Kurt Rosenwinkel - The Next Step - (Verve Records)
2002 - Jakob Dinesen / Kurt Rosenwinkel - Everything Will Be Alright - (Verve Records)
2003 - Kurt Rosenwinkel - Heartcore - (Verve Records)
2005 - Kurt Rosenwinkel - Deep Song - (Verve Records)
2008 - Kurt Rosenwinkel - The Remedy: Live at the Village Vanguard - (ArtistShare/Wommusic)
2009 - Kurt Rosenwinkel Standards Trio - Reflections - (Wommusic)
2010 - Kurt Rosenwinkel & OJM - Our Secret World - (Wommusic)
Collaborator:
1994 - Human Feel - Scatter
1994 - Human Feel - Welcome To Malpesta
1995 - Human Feel - Speak To It
2000 - Metta Quintet - Going To Meet The Man
2007 - Human Feel - Galore
Sideman:
1990 - Mimmo Cafiero Quintet - Moon and Twenty Five
1992 - Gary Burton - Six Pack
1993 - Seamus Blake - The Call (Criss Cross Jazz 1094 CD)
1994 - Mark Turner - Yam Yam (Criss Cross Jazz 1160 CD)
1994 - Paul Motian - Paul Motian and the Electric Bebop Band (JMT)
1995 - Once Blue - Once Blue
1995 - Perico Sambeat - Ademuz
1996 - Paul Motian and the Electric Bebop Band - Reincarnation of a Love Bird
1996 - Paul Motian and the Electric Bebop Band - Flight of the Blue Jay
1996 - Larry Goldings - Big Stuff
1997 - Chris Cheek Quartet - I Wish I Knew
1998 - Myron Walden - Like a Flower Seeking the Sun
1998 - The Chris Potter Quartet - Vertigo
1998 - Paul Motian and the Electric Bebop Band - Play Monk and Powell
1998 - Mark Turner - In This World
1998 - Jochen Rueckert - Introduction
1999 - Seamus Blake - Stranger Things Have Happened
1999 - George Colligan - Unresolved
1999 - Jakob Dinesen Quartet - Around
1999 - Chris Cheek - Vine
1999 - Mark Turner - Ballad Session
1999 - Marcy Playground - Shapeshifter
1999 - Tim Hagans - Animation - Imagination
1999 - Jill Seifers - The Waiting
1999 - Brian Blade Fellowship - Perceptual
2000 - Noah Becker - Where We Are
2000 - Wax Poetic - Wax Poetic
2000 - Danilo Pérez - Motherland
2000 - Matthias Lupri Group - Same Time Twice
2000 - Brian Blade Fellowship - Perceptual
2001 - Rebecca Martin - Middlehope
2001 - Matt Penman - The UnQuiet
2001 - Barney McAll - Release the Day
2001 - Mark Turner - Dharma Days
2002 - Jorg Kaaij Quintet - Downtown Daze
2002 - Kris Bauman Quartet feat. Kurt Rosenwinkel
2002 - Phil Grenadier - Playful Intentions
2003 - Eli Degibri Quintet - In the Beginning
2003 - Perico Sambeat - Friendship
2005 - Charlie Peacock - Love Press Ex-Curio
2005 - Joshua Redman Elastic Band - Momentum
2006 - Barney McAll - Mother of Dreams and Secrets
2006 - Aaron Goldberg - Worlds
2006 - Joel Miller - Mandala
2006 - The Miles Donahue Quintet - In The Pocket
2007 - Barney McAll - Flashbacks
2007 - Charlier / Sourisse - Heritage
2007 - Daniel Szabo Trio - Frictions
2007 - Rebecca Martin - The Growing Season
2008 - Brian Blade and the Fellowship Band - Season of Changes
2008 - Jakob Bro - The Stars are All New Songs Vol.1
2008 - Q-Tip - The Renaissance
2009 - Brian Blade - Mama Rosa
2009 - Roman Ott - Seeing People
2009 - Jason Lindner - Now vs. Now
2009 - Q-Tip - Kamaal/The Abstract
2009 - Alain Apaloo's Apipo - Flood Gate
Arranger:
1999 - Guillermo Klein - Los Guachos II
Producer:
1997 - Chris Cheek Quartet - I Wish I Knew
2007 - Rebecca Martin - The Growing Season
TV appearances:
2005 - SOLOS: the jazz sessions (Bravo! Canada)
2009 - Appeared with The Roots and Questlove (Late Night With Jimmy Fallon on October 1, 2009)
Description: Kurt Rosenwinkel / April 20, 2008, 10:44 / Author: Tom Beetz at tom.beetz
| Kurt Rosenwinkel – Reflections (2009) |