Geri Allen and Kurt Rosenwinkel - A Lovesome Thing

December 5, 2023

Label: Heartcore Records / Motéma, 2023

Personnel - Geri Allen: piano; Kurt Rosenwinkel: guitar.

Two master musicians, the late great pianist Geri Allen and the vibrant guitarist Kurt Rosenwinkel, showcase a free-spirited melodic vocabulary and profound harmonic insight on this live recording captured in Paris in 2012. A Lovesome Thing: Live at the Philharmonie de Paris is made of five pieces of music: three standards and two original compositions, one by each musician.

They emanate a natural and relaxed aura that permeates the music, leaving it imprinted with their distinctive musical signatures and tremendous improvisational capabilities. Right from the beginning, they captivate listeners by embracing a beautiful rubato playing style that gives shape to Billy Strayhorn’s splendid ballad, "A Flower is a Lonesome Thing”. Another widely known ballad follows: "Embraceable You”, but this one, by the pen of George Gershwin, didn't have a strong impact on me in spite of Herbie Hancock’s deft arrangement.

What truly amazed was the captivating rendition of Thelonious Monk’s “Ruby My Dear” whose incomparable beauty is enhanced here by a flawless integration of strings and keys. Rosenwinkel’s delightfully enigmatic introduction blends single-note phrasing and sophisticated harmony to create a colorful, contemporary tapestry. Even more impressive are the original compositions, standing out as the highlights of this duo session. Rosenwinkel’s "Simple #2" centers on a robust bluesy stride in three, offering multiple facets to be enjoyed. This composition, first featured on the guitarist’s 2020 trio album Angels Around, retains its urgency and is elegantly expressed with an outstanding sense of resolution.

In turn, Allen’s previously unrecorded piece, “Open Handed Reach”, imparts a sense of openness as it unfolds with a light waltzing step. It presents a harmonically rich experience elevated by the pianist’s brilliancy. Geri Allen and Kurt Rosenwinkel lay bare abundant musical fertility, revealing instinctive chemistry. They are both supportive in their accompaniments, courageous in their statements, and intelligent in their interplay.

Favorite Tracks:
04 - Simple #2 ► 05 - Ruby My Dear ► 07 - Open Handed Reach

Kurt Rosenwinkel Trio - Angels Around

July 15, 2020

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.

Favorite Tracks:
01 - Ugly Beauty ► 03 - Self Portrait in Three Colors ► 04 - Simple #2

Kurt Rosenwinkel Bandit 65 - Searching the Continuum

December 3, 2019

Label: Heartcore Records, 2019

Personnel - Kurt Rosenwinkel: guitar, voice, electronics; Tim Motzer: electro-acoustic guitar synth, electronics; Gintas Janusonis: drums, percussion, electronics.

The versatility of renowned guitarist Kurt Rosenwinkel is on display in his most recent outing with the experimental post-jazz trio Bandit 65, whose impressionistic musical languages embrace jazz, rock, and ambient. The seven spontaneous tracks on Searching the Continuum were captured live during concerts in Europe (Stocholm, Madrid, Berlin, Vienna) and the US (Philadelphia and Los Angeles) and reveal to have a distilled, deeply personal quality to them. The album is a product of three years of intense live performance and comes full of aerospheric involvement.

Rosenwinkel and his adroit bandmates - fellow guitarist Tim Motzer, an expert in looping and textural soundscapes, and well-versed drummer Gintas Janusonis - follow the principle that the music creates itself, ensuring tight collective integrity in addition to moments of sheer individuality.

Vaporous soundscapes open up the first selection, “Inori”, whose incantatory pace relies on consonant guitars and noble percussion outfits. At some point, the trio embraces a pop/rock circularity that remains alive until the end. Rosenwinkel’s vocalizing accompanies his resolute sense of phrasing on the guitar, a procedure that gains further dimension on the fascinating “At The Gates”, a mesmeric combination of ambient/rock textures and jazz improv that lifts it up to a high peak.

The recording ends in a clear crescendo thanks to “In Time”, whose reverb-drenched chordal work echo in our ears with chill-out resolve before sinking pleasurably in our souls, and “Magical”, which, buoyed by sturdy bass lines and some guitar exoticism, evolves from silently static to a particular atmospheric mood that begs to be played loud.

The group’s taste in experimentalism is palpable on “Sagrada”, where a spacey church organ deflects dissonantly with occasional splatters of tension. Percussive and electronic noises play fundamental roles in the inception, while, later on, bluesy guitar licks morph into chromatic jazz moves toward the end.

On “Bloomer”, talkative percussive rattles and bass drum kicks prepare the territory for a broken beat-inspired flux that stabilizes along the way as it props up languid harmonies and a rock-tinged guitar improv. This number, holding a three time feel, quite differs from the 19-minute voyage “Interstellar Suite”, whose interesting collages within the deft sound design incorporate the earthy and the cosmic. It unfolds like a slow dancing in sustenance of drone intrigue, floating electro-acoustic guitar coils with synth-infused motivation, and circumspect drumming; all under an non-rigid structure.

The surface quality of the overlapping guitars teases out new dimensions, lending a fluctuant light air to the tracks. These are further deepened and expanded in scope according to the musicians’ intuitive playing.

Favorite Tracks:
05 - At the Gates ► 06 - In Time ► 07 - Magical

Kurt Rosenwinkel - Caipi

April 27, 2017

Label/Year: Razdaz Records, 2017

Lineup – Kurt Rosenwinkel: guitars, voice, bass, piano, synth, percussion; Mark Turner: tenor saxophone; Pedro Martins: voice, drums, synth; Frederika Krier: violin; Chris Komer: French horn; Alex Kozmidi: baritone guitar; Eric Clapton: guitar; Andi Haberl: drums; Amanda Brecker: voice; Zola Mennenoh: voice; Kyra Garey: voice; Antonio Loureiro: voice.

Influential American guitarist Kurt Rosenwinkel opted to radically change direction in Caipi, a Brazilian jazz fusion record whose concept and compositions had been worked on over the last ten years.
Accompanying the virtuoso guitarist, who also sings and plays bass, keys, and percussion, are international artists of undeniable quality. The lineup includes the saxophonist Mark Turner, multi-instrumentalist Pedro Martins, and intermittent appearances of violinist Frederika Krier, French horn player Chris Komer, baritone guitarist Alex Kozmidi, drummer Andi Haberl, rock/blues guitarist Eric Clapton, and a quartet of vocalists.

A myriad of colorful confetti covers the tropical landscapes described by the title track, where typical Brazilian rhythms fuse seamlessly with the straight-ahead post-bop style that the guitarist has been plunging in. On top of the highly-colored acoustic voicings, the radiance of his effect-drenched electric guitar sound is completely identifiable with previous works, even if applied to a new context.

Both “Kama” and “Casio Vanguard” are inspiringly utopian, having Portuguese lyrics uttered with recurrent falsettos. The former is inundated with synth vibes, acquiring an R&B feel that takes us back to the 80s. In turn, the latter is encircled by a Brazilian pop-folk that combines many influences, from Gilberto Gil to Hermeto Pascoal. Rosenwinkel mesmerizes every time he expresses himself on the guitar.

“Summer Song” is a breezy, ear-catching piece that features singable melodies over an underground dream-pop atmosphere.

A ternary bass groove, glued to a festive samba rhythm, is laid down in “Chromatic B”, creating the ideal conditions for the guitarist’s explorative take offs. It gets us stoned of relaxation before opening a way to a double dose of indie pop with “Hold On” and “Ezra”. The latter, composed for Kurt’s son, features Mark Turner soloing in-the-rhythm.

The saxophonist can be heard again in “Casio Escher”, a floating, feel-good tune initially driven by acoustic guitar and superiorly vocalized by Amanda Brecker and Pedro Martins. It comes recharged by the empowerment and colorful expressiveness of the soloists, Turner and Rosenwinkel, in the case.

Tinged with an Afro-Brazilian rhythm and richly harmonized, “Interscape” is another favorite of mine, and comes shaped by wordless vocals in a grateful exultation of beauty and joy.

Fans of Kurt Rosenwinkel will certainly be surprised with the new path but don’t really have to worry. Firstly, because the compositional expertise and guitar skills of their hero remain intact and recognizable. Secondly, because this fusion sounds good, spreading blissful vibes over the blue skies.

Favorite Tracks:
01 – Caipi ► 09 – Casio Escher ►10 – Interscape