Search - Kurt Rosenwinkel :: Heartcore

Pretty good! pretty good!

A.J.H. Woodcount | 02/02/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Rosenwinkel his best work up until now. Now being January 2006. `Deep song', `The next step' and `The enemies of energy' where all great (five, maybe six stars) albums. But this one is just `miles ahead' of them. And by using this album title of the great Miles Davis I dare state that this album will be, should be among the 'Kind of blue'-albums of the world. It has the making of a thru classical album and in my opinion should go for at least eight stars.



Why you ask? Well here we go!



I don't know if it is Q-Tips affiliation to this album or not, but the rhythms of bass and drums are of an extraordinary pumping jazzquality. Though they appear to be from a whole other scene, they still mix tremendously well in the jazz approach of Rosenwinkel. It's new and I like it!



This bashful, almost nerdy guy his jazz approach, being one of a blend of what I call `soundfullness', a mixture of composition and instrumentalcraftsmanship, strikes me again and again as being new, imaginative, leading, visionary, exemplary and above all of thoughtfulness, feeling, sentiment and emotion.



Writing these bootlicking uncanny words makes me want to puke or at least check my temperature though I know it's of no use - my temperature is that high because of the real felt exhilaration and my retching over spilled words (true as they may be) will most likely not last as long as the timelessness of this really excellent album.



(Read my other Rosenwinkel reviews if you do not yet grasp what I'm talking about - it feels so impractical to do that over and over and if the truth may be told, you jazz loving people should buy al four albums anyway.)



(FJB/O! 2006)



"

Heartcore

P. Freeman | Seattle, WA | 02/19/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Kurt Rosenwinkel is excellent once again in this album. He plays guitar, keyboards, drums, and programming on different songs and sometimes all at once through layering. "Blue Line" is the standout track for me, but, in all honesty, they all are excellent.

In addition to Jeff Ballard (drums), Ben Street (bass), and Mark Turner (tenor saxophone), other artists guest on various songs. Andrew D'Angelo plays bass clarinet on the surreal "Your Vision," Mariano Gil plays flute on calm "Interlude," and "Love in the Modern World," and Ethan Iverson of the Bad Plus plays on "Our Secret World" and "dcba//>>."

There is a nice variety in styles and feels through out the album, and Rosenwinkel applies some really cool effects, like playing drums along with Jeff Ballard (one on each channel) on "Blue Line" and also doubling drums on "All the Way to Rajasthan."

Kurt Rosenwinkel pushes the boundary here along with the rest of the artists on it. Inspired playing in each song. Solid stuff."

Re-defining Jazz Guitar in the 21st Century

CharlieGreene | Satelite Mexico | 05/03/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Every once in a generation comes an artist that re-defines and creates a whole new vocabulary with an instrument. Like Miles Davis, Keith Jarret, Jaco Pastorius, and Eddie Van Halen, Kurt Rosenwinkel belongs in this category. I did not know his music, I heard of him from word of mouth. So when I listened to this album I was surprised, big time. I had not heard something so original in a long-long time. Different BUT interesting. In simple terms, it sounds somewhere like a mix of Pat Metheny, Bill Frissell and Andy Summers with an atmospheric tripi-groove. So if you wanna hear jazz guitar in a new direction (at last, it's been a while), here it is. Extremely recomendable."