This rising jazz guitar star writes unlikely music. Equally mysterious, eerie, contemplative, serene, buoyant, and forlorn, Kurt Rosenwinkel's music follows no discernible fashion. Though he's influenced by Pat Metheny an... more »d Bill Frisell, Rosenwinkel's second Verve release (the follow-up to 2000's Enemies of Energy) more aptly recalls the early ECM recordings of guitarist John Abercrombie and drummer Jack DeJohnette's Special Edition band. Steeped in unusual tunings, zigzagging melodies, and a highly sensitive and loosely supercharged band, The Next Step works, especially for those patient enough to dig through its dense fabric. An equal number of post-bop workouts and haunting ballads occupy the CD, but even when the musicians (saxophonist Mark Turner, drummer Jeff Ballard, bassist Ben Street) are in full wail, a sense of fragile contemplation marks the music. The intricate "Zhivago" and "A Shifting Design" show Rosenwinkel's unique guitar and compositional personality--his fingers and his mind seem as one, almost as if he doesn't really need a band to consummate his music. And when he sings (wordlessly) along with his probing guitar designs, he rides high over the band while seeming deep in his own head. The ballads--"Paths of the Heart," "Use of Light," and the beginning of "A Shifting Design"--perfectly capture some sci-fi deep space silence, where abandoned crafts drift in the darkness of a black vacuum. But Rosenwinkel also bumps and boogies like mad on "Filters," dedicated to Wes Montgomery, which features dynamite Turner-Rosenwinkel interplay and a gripping, hot-as-coals melody. For the title track, Rosenwinkel is on piano, and he sounds for all the world like a Chick Corea composition before it blasts off into a hardy, free-blues shuffle. Quixotic, cerebral, and a bit magical, The Next Step plots the unusual path of this freethinking guitarist. --Ken Micallef« less
This rising jazz guitar star writes unlikely music. Equally mysterious, eerie, contemplative, serene, buoyant, and forlorn, Kurt Rosenwinkel's music follows no discernible fashion. Though he's influenced by Pat Metheny and Bill Frisell, Rosenwinkel's second Verve release (the follow-up to 2000's Enemies of Energy) more aptly recalls the early ECM recordings of guitarist John Abercrombie and drummer Jack DeJohnette's Special Edition band. Steeped in unusual tunings, zigzagging melodies, and a highly sensitive and loosely supercharged band, The Next Step works, especially for those patient enough to dig through its dense fabric. An equal number of post-bop workouts and haunting ballads occupy the CD, but even when the musicians (saxophonist Mark Turner, drummer Jeff Ballard, bassist Ben Street) are in full wail, a sense of fragile contemplation marks the music. The intricate "Zhivago" and "A Shifting Design" show Rosenwinkel's unique guitar and compositional personality--his fingers and his mind seem as one, almost as if he doesn't really need a band to consummate his music. And when he sings (wordlessly) along with his probing guitar designs, he rides high over the band while seeming deep in his own head. The ballads--"Paths of the Heart," "Use of Light," and the beginning of "A Shifting Design"--perfectly capture some sci-fi deep space silence, where abandoned crafts drift in the darkness of a black vacuum. But Rosenwinkel also bumps and boogies like mad on "Filters," dedicated to Wes Montgomery, which features dynamite Turner-Rosenwinkel interplay and a gripping, hot-as-coals melody. For the title track, Rosenwinkel is on piano, and he sounds for all the world like a Chick Corea composition before it blasts off into a hardy, free-blues shuffle. Quixotic, cerebral, and a bit magical, The Next Step plots the unusual path of this freethinking guitarist. --Ken Micallef
CD Reviews
Behold the axe of rosenwinkel!!!
James H. Timber-Giboyeaux | Puerto Rico | 04/07/2001
(5 out of 5 stars)
"The happy-hat rumbero looks of the CD stirred my curiosity about what was in there to look for. I just bought this cd and casually began to listen the music within. The casual scenario did not last. The music of Kurt Rosenwinkel commands attention. I have not heard music of this kind since the early Abercrombie ECM recordings, specifically Characters, the Abercrombie Quartet, Dejohnette's Directions and the New Directions band. I thought this kind of jazz artistry was long gone history. Rosenwinkell's fond of experimentation and beautiful melodies are important attributes of this young musician to which we can add outstanding composition skills. I am quite interested in the musical career of this guy which I believe would have a long and fruitful future."
New Blood
Tom Freeman | Concord, Ma | 11/29/2002
(5 out of 5 stars)
"This follow up album to "Enemies" shows that a new guitar hero is in the making. Kurt's use of phrasing, sound, lines and tunes are a true personal thing , not to mention the whole bands subtle interaction and vibe.I recently saw him in Boston in a different context and he just really has his own sound happening, no matter what group he's in."
Continued growth for a great artist.
John S. | Long Island, NY USA | 01/12/2001
(5 out of 5 stars)
"I first got into Kurt's music through finding an advanced promo copy of the Enemies of Energy. It totally knocked me out with it's compositional originality and with the very strong solo voices of the quintet. I really felt a depth and vision in this music that is all too rare among the many highly competent jazz artists that record nowadays. It's a quartet date, so Scott Kinsey's keyboard work from Enemies is no longer part of the sound, but that is not a problem. Kurt's brilliant guitar playing is more prominent that it was on Enemies, and on the title track he plays piano (also brilliantly), rather than guitar. The quartet is rounded out by Mark Turner on sax, Jeff Ballard on drums, and Ben Street on bass. All I can say to a prospective buyer of the Next Step is that it is music of a very high order, and its well worth getting into. The only other relative newcomer (as a leader)on the scene that turns me on this much is Avishai Cohen. Buy this disc!"
A New Voice
Kenneth James Michael MacLean | Ann Arbor, MI USA | 12/25/2001
(5 out of 5 stars)
"This is the freshest group I have heard in years. The first 3 cuts on this CD are amazing -- melodic, swinging, but brash and original. You can hear the influence of Frisell and Metheney in Rosenwinkle's playing, but he's got a sound all his own. This is impressive and inspiring music. "Zhivago" is a true musical representation of the book by Pasternak, one of the greatest works of fiction ever. It's amazing to me how he has captured the spirit of Russia in this piece -- so beautiful, and so harsh at the same time. The band is only guitar, sax, bass and drums but the group has a big sound. There is a lot of energy in this music.
Kurt Rosenwinkle is an original, and the band sounds really together on all of the tunes. This is music that grows on you, the more you listen."
Jazz has an exciting future
RoR noob | san diego, CA | 03/05/2001
(5 out of 5 stars)
"a fresh voice has arrived in the realm of jazz guitar and that is Rosenwinkel. What a record...each track is chock full of his hauntingly beautiful tone and phrasing, somewhat reminiscent of Pat Metheny, with a pinch of Kenny Burrell. Comparisons aside, the striking quality of Kurt Rosenwinkel is his originality. Jazz guitar has been waiting for something fresh, and this is it. The album debunks the myth of "contemporary jazz", or what it is supposed to be... Scofield and Metheny have welcomed a new kid into the arena. I look forward to the future releases of KR with much anticipation. Be sure to check out a recording he did with Seamus Blake...."