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Kurt Rosenwinkel

American composer, multi-instrumentalist, bandleader, and producer Kurt Rosenwinkel is one of the most celebrated musical voices in jazz and is widely renowned as one of the most distinctive and gifted guitarists to have ever played the instrument.

Rosenwinkel’s harmonically rich, rhythmically free, and incomparably fluid style has made him one of the most important jazz musicians to emerge in the last thirty years, and his groundbreaking sonic conception of the guitar has changed the way the instrument has been perceived and played ever since. His recordings as a bandleader in early aughts on Verve Records were strikingly original releases that reshaped contemporary jazz in the 21st century. The Enemies of Energy (2000), The Next Step (2001), Heartcore (2003) and Deep Song (2005), would redefine the sound of jazz for a new era, deftly fusing jazz’s deep acoustic traditions with electronics, digital manipulation, programmed beats, and utterly modern harmonic and compositional structures that even today we can still only reference as ‘Rosenwinkelian’.

He continues this freethinking experimentalism with albums like Our Secret World (2010), in collaboration with the Orchestra de Jazz Matosinhos, the “contemporary classic” (Kelman, All About Jazz) Star of Jupiter (2012), and Caipi (2017), a Brazilian influenced album with Rosenwinkel taking on most of the instrumental and vocal duties.

He continues to reinvent jazz standards on Reflections (2008) and Angels Around (2020). Rosenwinkel’s most recent releases include Kurt Rosenwinkel Plays Piano (2021), an album of solo piano pieces that offers an intimate look at Rosenwinkel’s relationship to the piano and how it formed his compositional mind, and a collaboration with pianist Jean-Paul Brodbeck entitled The Chopin Project (2022) which finds him reimagining Chopin compositions with Brodbeck in a jazz context. His latest upcoming album, Berlin Baritone is a solo improvisational album on baritone guitar, and a uniquely intimate release, where listeners get to hear Rosenwinkel discover the timbral world of his newfound instrument with reverence and curiosity. Rosenwinkel’s prolific output has always retained his unique voice, and each release is a constellation in his singular musical universe, always expanding outwards, to reach for the next beautiful sound.

In addition to his genre-defining work as a bandleader, Rosenwinkel is also an accomplished sideman, with over 150 credits to his name. His first exposure to international touring was with Gary Burton, the legendary vibraphonist who hired him out of Berklee College in 1992. That same year he joined Paul Motian’s Electric Bebop Band, and entered into a decade-long musical relationship with the drummer that helped usher in a new era in Motian’s already illustrious career.

Louis Cole: Quality Over Opinion

Read "Quality Over Opinion" reviewed by Scott Lichtman

by Scott Lichtman
February 18, 2024

Louis Cole is a chameleonic genius--merging beats, samples and catchy tunes across styles ranging from “metal-funk-fusion" to “pastoral falsettos." His loose incorporation of jazz traits, including syncopation, funk keys and sophisticated horn arrangements, has yielded new validation with a Grammy 2024 Best Alternative Jazz Album nomination for Quality Over Opinion (originally released in 2022). Cole plays fluid keys, guitar, drums, sings and produces. There are twenty pieces on Quality Over Opinion. Practically every tune--the majority clock-in at under ...

Album Review

Geri Allen & Kurt Rosenwinkel: A Lovesome Thing

Read "A Lovesome Thing" reviewed by Pierre Giroux

by Pierre Giroux
December 11, 2023

At Philharmonie de Paris on September 5, 2012, pianist Geri Allen and guitarist Kurt Rosenwinkel delivered the mesmerizing performance preserved on this album. Geri Allen is known for her innovative perspective on the piano. Kurt Rosenwinkel has a distinctive approach to the guitar. They seamlessly blend their craft to approach a thoughtful selection of standards and original compositions. Billy Strayhorn's “A Flower Is A Lovesome Thing" opens. With its lush harmonies and soulful melodies, the piece serves ...

Album Review

Geri Allen & Kurt Rosenwinkel: A Lovesome Thing

Read "A Lovesome Thing" reviewed by Neil Duggan

by Neil Duggan
December 2, 2023

Geri Allen and Kurt Rosenwinkel had a duo date as part of the Jazz à la Villette festival in Paris in 2012. They flew in on the night from separate cities to play for a packed audience. They had only played together a couple of times and this concert was the first and only time they played in a duo together. There was no rehearsal. Perhaps surprisingly, this was an evening when the stars aligned and the night was a ...

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 ...

Performance / Tour

World-Renowned Smoke Jazz Club Announces February Line-Up Including Louis Hayes, Kurt Rosenwinkel, Valentine’s Day With Lezlie Harrison, And More

Source: AMT Public Relations
January 11, 2023

Described as “the most genuine, congenial and best-run jazz club in the city (Huffington Post),” New York’s Smoke Jazz Club presents a stellar line-up of some of jazz’s greatest artists during February. The month kick-starts with a four-night run February 2-5 by today’s leading vibraphonist Stefon Harris and his critically-acclaimed ensemble Blackout. SMOKE Jazz Club welcomes an interesting dual-guitar dialogue with Peter Bernstein and Kurt Rosenwinkel from February 9-12. Vocalist Lezlie Harrison celebrates Valentine’s Day February 14-15 followed by legendary ...
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Birthday

Jazz Musician of the Day: Kurt Rosenwinkel

Source: Michael Ricci
October 28, 2022

All About Jazz is celebrating Kurt Rosenwinkel's birthday today!

Following a string of three acclaimed recordings for Verve Records that firmly established him as one of the most strikingly original new voices in jazz as both guitarist and composer (2000’s The Enemies of Energy, 2001’s The Next Step and 2003’s Heartcore), Kurt Rosenwinkel returns with an all-star outing that is perhaps his most luminous and accessible to date. Joined by his high-profile colleagues Brad Mehldau on piano and Joshua Redman ...
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Birthday

Jazz Musician of the Day: Kurt Rosenwinkel

Source: Michael Ricci
October 28, 2021

All About Jazz is celebrating Kurt Rosenwinkel's birthday today!

Birthday

Jazz Musician of the Day: Kurt Rosenwinkel

Source: Michael Ricci
October 28, 2020

All About Jazz is celebrating Kurt Rosenwinkel's birthday today!

Video / DVD

StLJN Saturday Video Showcase: Spotlight on Kurt Rosenwinkel

Source: St. Louis Jazz Notes by Dean Minderman
February 2, 2020

This week, our video spotlight falls on guitarist Kurt Rosenwinkel, who's coming to town to perform starting next Wednesday, February 5 through Sunday, February 9 at Jazz St. Louis. Taking the slot in the season schedule once announced for fellow guitarist Pat Martino, it's been a long time between visits for Rosenwinkel, who will be playing his first shows here as a leader since 2006, when he headlined a week at what then was called Jazz at the Bistro. Back ...
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Event

Thailand International Jazz Conference (TIJC) 2020 Musters Most World-Class Jazz Artists In 12 Years

Source: Thailand International Jazz Conference
January 20, 2020

The 12th Thailand International Jazz Conference, or TIJC 2020, is just around the corner. This year’s event will be even better than before. Held under the theme of “Jazz for All”, it will feature the largest gathering of world-class jazz artists, from January 31 to February 2, 2020, at the College of Music, Mahidol University’s Salaya Campus. Among the world’s leading jazz artists to join the TIJC 2020 is Ozmosys, the foremost jazz project led by world-renowned drummer Omar Hakim ...
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