Kurt Rosenwinkel & Bill Charlap: Higher Standards

On March 23, 2023, in the run up to Record Store Day, Elemental Records released on vinyl two Criss Cross albums from 1998 which have previously been available only as CDs. Guitarist Kurt Rosenwinkel's 2-LP Intuit and pianist Bill Charlap's All Through The Night come in sturdy gatefold sleeves and are pressed on 180-gram audiophile vinyl.

Kurt Rosenwinkel
Intuit
Elemental
2023

In 1995, the year before he recorded his first album as leader, Kurt Rosenwinkel won the National Endowment for the Arts' Composers Award, and it was as a guitarist playing his own compositions that he built his reputation—at niche New York venues such as Smalls Jazz Club—and for which he continues to be best known in the 2020s. However, perhaps to increase radio play and attract a larger audience, on his first two albums as leader, of which Intuit was the second, Rosenwinkel focused almost entirely on standards and jazz standards.

The ten tracks on Intuit include just one original, and it is not by Rosenwinkel but by the session's pianist, Michael Kanan, whose slow and dreamy "Epiphany" sits comfortably among such classics as Irving Berlin's "How Deep Is The Ocean?," Jimmy Van Heusen's "Darn That Dream," George Gershwin's "Summertime" and two versions of George Shearing's "Conception." There are also three up-tempo pieces by Charlie Parker: "Dewey Square," "Sippin' At Bells" and "Segment."

If Rosenwinkel wanted to demonstrate mastery of the standard jazz repertoire before launching into records built around his own compositions, he graduates cum laude. And while doing so, he retains his own voice. Check the YouTube clip of "Summertime" below: Rosenwinkel's playing includes enough quirkiness and advanced harmony to make the performance fresh and compelling. The same is true of the rest of the album.

Rosenwinkel's melodically inventive, cleanly articulated single-note runs are a delight throughout and the supporting trio—Kanan, bassist Joe Martin and drummer Tim Pleasant—provide a secure and swinging foundation. Kanan's more conservative solos complement Rosenwinkel's nicely. This is a welcome vinyl release for an album which has been rather unfairly overlooked in favour of Rosenwinkel's originals-based discs.

Bill Charlap
All Through The Night
Elemental
2023

George Shearing crops up again on All Through The Night, but this time not as a composer but as the liner note writer. So enthusiastic is Shearing that it almost feels like the older man is anointing Bill Charlap as a successor-in-waiting. There are marked parallels between the two players: lush, ornate pianism and a deeply empathetic relationship with the Great American Songbook. Indeed, on the strength of his own compositions and long residence in the US, Shearing, though British-born, can be regarded as a GAS composer himself.

All Through The Night is a collection of show tunes by Cole Porter, Vernon Duke, Lee Adams, Alec Wilder, Irving Berlin, Leslie Bricusse, Richard Rodgers and Jule Styne. The prevailing tempo is mostly up (Bricusse's "Pure Imagination" being a sensuous exception) and, to borrow from one of the song titles, the album puts on an infectiously happy face.

Bassist Peter Washington and drummer Kenny Washington, with both of whom Charlap continues to work, are more prominent than their counterparts on Rosenwinkel's album and kick things along with vigour.

In his liner note, Shearing writes: "This album seems to have everything...touch, swing, sound, precision and just about everything you need in a well-rounded, well-schooled jazz pianist." High praise, but on the mark.

Tracks and Personnel

Intuit

Tracks: Disc One: How Deep Is The Ocean?; Conception; Darn That Dream; Dewey Square; When Sunny Gets Blue; Sippin' At Bells. Disc Two: Epiphany; Segment; Summertime; Conception 11.

Personnel: Kurt Rosenwinkel: guitar; Michael Kanan: piano; Joe Martin: bass; Tim Pleasant: drums.

All Through The Night

Tracks: All Through The Night; Roundabout; Put On A Happy Face; It's So Peaceful In The Country; The Best Thing For You Would Be Me; Pure Imagination; Nobody's Heart; Dance Only With Me / Dream Dancing; I've Just Seen Her.

Personnel: Bill Charlap: piano; Peter Washington: bass; Kenny Washington: drums.

Comments