Label: Heartcore Records, 2020
Personnel - Kurt Rosenwinkel: guitar; Dario Deidda: bass guitar; Gregory Hutchinson: drums.
Owning an inimitable style, guitarist Kurt Rosenwinkel has a special gift for playing standards with expertise and passion, making them afresh. On his latest trio outing, Angels Around - with a strong assist from Italian bassist Dario Deidda and American drummer Gregory Hutchinson - he presents five notably selected standards that really make me want to revisit them again and again. The program is rounded out with two sinewy originals, one by Rosenwinkel and one by Deidda.
Opening the album, Monk’s “Ugly Beauty” suggests an initial rock layer that soon evaporates, soaked in the mellow synth-effects of Rosenwinkel’s reverb-drenched guitar. The electric transferences provided by the guitarist always find a generous supportive from the well-oiled rhythmic engine of Deidda and Hutchinson.
Paul Chamber’s “Ease It” is a colorful, energy-filled hard-bop tune that doesn’t necessarily implies a reach back in time or any sort of nostalgia.
Composed by the soulful bassist Charles Mingus, “Self Portrait in Three Colors” includes breeziness and articulation in its dynamic contours. The melodic and harmonic contents merge together in a canvas pigmented by myriad color shadings. It's glorious.
Delivered with brio, Bill Evans’ “Time Remembered” is given a more spirited treatment than we usually find in most of its renditions. While the jaunty, rock-ish groove doesn’t eradicate any of the tune’s emotional lyricism, Rosenwinkel’s superb harmonic work hit you square in the chest.
Displaying his soloing capabilities at full force, the guitarist takes the trio full steam ahead with his own “Simple #2”, where a hard rock heftiness is exposed with a swirling three time feel. Combative power chords, smart bluesy licks and dazzling jazz fantasy are all squeezed in an underlying rhythmic approach that doesn’t eschew intense melodicism. Deidda also shows his improvisational qualities here, as well as on the title cut he wrote, which relies on an indie-rock framework tinged by jazz undercurrents.
Joe Henderson’s “Punjab” and Jobim’s “Passarim” (bonus track) complete the program.
Rosenwinkel brings the full breath of his natural musicianship and spontaneity into this session. Despite the valid fusion works made recently (Caipi, Bandit 65), his true glory lies here, where the style is more direct and accessible and he reaches the apogee of his musical powers. This is a gem not to be missed.
Grade A+
Favorite Tracks:
01 - Ugly Beauty ► 03 - Self Portrait in Three Colors ► 04 - Simple #2