Kurt Rosenwinkel Trio Complete Two-Night Stint at Charlie Wright’s Tonight
Monday, July 20, 2009
Who knows what the face of jazz guitar is going to be in the future but if anyone has a clue to its direction then it’s Kurt Rosenwinkel.
The American completes the last night of a brief stop over at Charlie Wright’s bar in London tonight with his trio which at the weekend saw action in the contrasting outdoor setting on a stage by the Grand Harbour of Malta’s capital, Valletta.
The 38-year-old Philadelphian Rosenwinkel, who cut his teeth as a jazz musician with the bands of Gary Burton and Paul Motian and who made an impact particularly with his 2005 album Deep Song featuring Brad Mehldau and Joshua Redman, has one foot in the storied heartland of jazz guitar subtly eschewing any sentimental mellowness, with the other firmly planted in the here-and-now of contemporary jazz, taking his music into a particular space of his own, foregrounding it with a sound that retains the soft silkiness of a modern post-Metheny standards style with a rich tone drawing out all the possibilities the instrument has to offer.
At Charlie’s Rosenwinkel brings Branford Marsalis Quartet bassist Eric Revis and drummer Rodney Green who in Malta on Friday night included Monk’s ‘Reflections’, the Kaper-Washington standard ‘Invitation’ and Kurt’s own ‘East Coast Love Affair’ in their set, all delivered with a remarkable candour and optimism. Rosenwinkel speaking backstage after the Valletta gig said that his next album will be on his own label to come out “in the fall” featuring Charles Lloyd drummer Eric Harland who Rosenwinkel has also recorded with live at the Village Vanguard in New York.
- Stephen Graham
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