Mr.Zhivago…
Kurt Rosenwinkel is for me the most important jazz guitarist of my generation. And i don’t say this lightly or without having previously heard almost all his recorded output and collaborative efforts with other musicians. It might seam hard to classify Kurt’s music in a single genre as himself acknowledged in several interviews last year regarding the release of is latest record “The Remedy – Live at The VIllage Vanguard” ; although for several obvious reasons is classified and labelled as “Jazz”. And it´s Jazz allright; modern, fresh, eclectic, and above all creative…
The public seams to love Kurt, and it’s been this way for a while now; but there are some curious aspects about him that i want to write about.
But what is that makes him stand apart from other contemporary jazz guitarists?: Well, it is undeniable that no one sounds like him, but that per se doest explain kurt´s success; but however points in an interesting direction, and that direction is what he plays in a pure musical and technical perspective.
Although deeply rooted in the Jazz tradition his approach is significantly different from his contemporaries. His solos sound unmistakably unique and immediately identifiable.
He has a profound knowledge of the vocabulary and the history associated with the instrument but that’s not what comes out. What comes out as a mesmerizing quality to it, a dreamy and sensitive quality that sometimes seems to came from another world or another time, and leaves you wondering what else there is out there for you to discover and that you didn’t know about, search new things and new experiences, new horizons…yes, its that powerful… and inspiring to.
From a musical point of view his unique approach to triadic superimposition and triads over bass notes in voice leading seams to be what distinguishes him from the rest. He does it masterfully and that enables him to improvise with extraordinary results.
Kurt as just finished a residence at the Village Vanguard in New York, and the first night was broadcasted live by WBGO. Both sets are available for stream or download at: http://www.npr.org/
Grab them while their still there…
Russ Sniff
says:Great post, I will be sure to bookmark this post in my Diigo account. Have a awesome evening.