Jazz Articles about Kurt Rosenwinkel

About Kurt Rosenwinkel

Album Review

Geri Allen and Kurt Rosenwinkel: A Lovesome Thing

Read "A Lovesome Thing" reviewed by Dave Linn

by Dave Linn
November 24, 2023

This year the jazz gods have bestowed an early Christmas present upon us. A Lovesome Thing (truncated from the Billy Strayhorn composition which opens the album), is a seven-song, fifty-three-minute album which documents a remarkable live duo performance from Geri Allen and Kurt Rosenwinkel. It will likely be found on many Top Ten lists this year. By 2012, Geri Allen was a pianist in demand by the elite of jazz. Artists such as Ornette Coleman, Tony Williams, Charlie ...

Album Review

Daniel Hersog Jazz Orchestra: Open Spaces

Read "Open Spaces" reviewed by Jerome Wilson

by Jerome Wilson
September 23, 2023

The subtitle of this album is “Folk Songs Reimagined" and Daniel Hersog uses a very liberal meaning for the term “folk song" here. He includes traditional folk songs on this album, in addition to familiar tunes by Bob Dylan and Gordon Lightfoot and his own folk-based compositions. All are given a glistening polish in the sweeping cinematic arrangements which he writes for his orchestra, and are further enhanced by excellent solo work from a number of musicians. Hersog's ...

Album Review

Daniel Hersog: Open Spaces

Read "Open Spaces" reviewed by Jack Bowers

by Jack Bowers
September 4, 2023

Locked down and socially distanced during the pandemic, composer-arranger Daniel Hersog had an interesting idea: rearrange some well-known and well-loved folk songs, most with Canadian roots, for jazz orchestra and throw in a handful of his own original compositions with a folk-tune ambience. The result is Open Spaces: Folk Songs Reimagined, the sophomore album by Hersog's Vancouver-based ensemble. As on his debut recording, Night Devoid of Stars (Cellar Music, 2020), Hersog welcomes a number of talented guest ...

Album Review

Kurt Rosenwinkel: Undercover: Live At The Village Vanguard

Read "Undercover: Live At The Village Vanguard" reviewed by Chris May

by Chris May
July 18, 2023

Kurt Rosenwinkel records in a variety of situations, either from inclination or to keep himself and his audience fresh or both. In 2022 alone, he released three unusually diverse albums: Plays Piano, a solo outing on which he plays piano only; The Chopin Project, a co-led disc with pianist Jean-Paul Brodbeck exploring the work of Frederic Chopin; and Berlin Baritone, another solo album, this time playing a baritone guitar. Undercover: Live At The Village Vanguard is back ...

Album Review

Kurt Rosenwinkel: Berlin Baritone

Read "Berlin Baritone" reviewed by Dave Linn

by Dave Linn
July 13, 2023

Born in 1970, in Philadelphia, Kurt Rosenwinkel began playing guitar at a young age and quickly demonstrated a remarkable talent and an innovative playing style. Later, he studied music at the Berklee College of Music in Boston. It was during this time that he began to attract attention within the jazz community for his unique approach to improvisation and his advanced harmonic concepts. Rosenwinkel left Berklee in his third year to tour with Gary Burton (the dean of ...

Album Review

Joe Farnsworth: In What Direction Are You Headed?

Read "In What Direction Are You Headed?" reviewed by Dave Linn

by Dave Linn
July 9, 2023

Joe Farnsworth grew up in a musical family and began playing drums at a young age. He later attended and graduated from William Patterson College in New Jersey, where the staff included Harold Mabern and Cedar Walton, who would prove instrumental in kick-starting his career. He landed a gig with Benny Golson that lasted eight years and went on to become an in-demand name. His style is deeply rooted in the bebop and hard bop traditions, characterized by a driving ...

Album Review

Brian Blade & The Fellowship Band: Kings Highway

Read "Kings Highway" reviewed by Cary Tenenbaum

by Cary Tenenbaum
July 7, 2023

The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines fellowship as “community of interest, activity, feeling, or experience," which seems to state well what Brian Blade & The Fellowship Band have been doing, cultivating a certain sound for over 25 years. The community is drummer Brian Blade, pianist Jon Cowherd, saxophonist Melvin Butler, saxophonist and clarinetist Myron Walden, bassist and synthesizer player Christopher Thomas and guitarist Kurt Rosenwinkel. The interest and activity these folks share is playing music, specifically jazz music. Finally, the feeling or ...