Kurt Rosenwinkel: "Reflections" reviewed

This is Kurt's first trio recording since his debut East Coast Love Affair on Fresh Sound in 1996 and is interesting because of its focus on Kurt the guitarist, rather than Kurt the composer or bandleader. I"ve listened to this most days since it arrived a couple of weeks ago and will probably continue to listen to it over the coming weeks as it is so rich and there is so much to listen to.

What intrigues me so much about Kurt's playing is that there are so many dimensions to it. Listening to, say, the opener Monk's Reflections, he is articulating the melody, accompanying the melody with chords, improvising with both chords and melodic lines, capturing a certain mood and striving to say something new. This is a pianistic approach and, it there is any obvious difference to his debut over ten years ago is that he has extended his harmonic range and technical facility in order to fully embrace this pianistic approach. It was George Van Eps who pioneered this approach to the guitar and provided an comprehensive set of studies (Harmonic Mechanisms for Guitar) for guitarists wishing to play what he called "lap piano". Kurt sounds as though he has dug deep into these studies in order to master this approach. I've often marveled at how Charlie Hunter can sustain a bass groove with chords and single-note lines. Kurt goes one step further, as he adds in harmonic improvisation. To my ears, this sounds like several chains of musical thought happening in parallel.

For this recording Kurt is joined by my favourite contemporary drummer, Eric Harland, with Eric Revis on bass. That said, the focus is on the guitar with the rhythm section primarily playing a supporting role. If the there is a theme it's that, overall the tunes are ballads - a mix of standards, Wayne Shorter, Monk and just one Kurt original, a re-interpretation of East Coast Love Affair.

Following the statement of the theme, Reflections swings through a set or improvised variations ending with a solo statement of the tune by Kurt in which the subtleties of his harmonic approach are to the fore. You Go To My Head consists of an intro followed by a statement of the theme with Kurt embellishing the spaces between the lines with some nice, pianistic flourishes, bringing to mind Bud Powell, and some rich harmonies remiscent of guitarist Johnny Smith.

Fall is a radical re-working of a Wayne Shorter tune that appears on Miles' Nefertitti album. Beginning with a loose, funky-ish drum pattern, the tune has no head as such. Kurt takes it's circular form and varies it subtly from one chorus to the next, moving the melody and accompanying harmony in a variety of directions. It's a tune I've played over again on several occasions just because I like its mesmerising effect. East Coast Love Affair begins with composed intro that imagine has developed over the ten or so years he has played the tune. The first solo is from Eric Revis, Kurt then plays several choruses that really sing and include some flashes of virtuosic brilliance that we would expect on any of his recordings.

The solo guitar intro to Monk's Ask Me Now is pure George Van Eps. Eric Revis plays a really tasteful solo. The next tune is perhaps my favourite, Wayne Shorter's Ana Maria - an interesting up-tempo bossa nova. I like it because the tune is beautiful and is not one I know. It has that nice mix that we would expect from Jobim's finest bossa novas - melancholia, thoughtfulness and an uplifting quality. The head of More Than You Know is another opportunity for Kurt to show how he can state a theme, provide interesting chordal flourishes and some spectacular double-time ornamentation. During the soloing, he plays some extraordinary lines but, wherever they go, he has a chord ready to provide some support. It's this kind of performance that sets Kurt apart from the crowd.

The final tune if You've Changed, a torch song that I always associate with Billie Holiday. Like You Go To My Head, it's primarily a nice arrangement of the tune, though it does not have the emotional depth of Billie Holiday's version.

Overall, very satisfying album. In contrast to his debut, it has a loose, unhurried feel, with less of a sense of urgency. Though restrained, it is illuminated by flashes of brilliance and it is certainly very expressive. Kurt's last album, The Remedy, highlighted his composing and the contributions of band members like Mark Turner; this album focuses on Kurt, the instrumentalist, but is as rich, diverse and satisfying as any of his albums.

Aaron Goldberg Trio, All of Me (changes), Live in Italy, 2008

I love Aaron's solo on this, particularly the first few choruses and then the way it builds from there. It's very "cool" in that there is a logical connection from one idea to the next from beginning to end. Eric Harland is one of my favourite drummers - lots of colour and dynamics. The tune sounds like something Tristano or Konitz would have written on a standard set of changes.

UPDATE! Link to transcription of Background Music by Warne Marsh

Baptiste Trotignon Quintet featuring Mark Turner

Another great night at Charlie Wright's International Bar in Hoxton saw French pianist Baptiste Trotignon with all-star support direct from NYC - Mark Turner (tenor), Jeremy Pelt (trumpet), Eric Harland (drums) and Matt Penman (bass). I had never heard of Baptiste before, so was surprised that he was playing with such big names.

The band played original compositions but the focus was on the star improvisers. Matt Penman's solo on the initial number was muscular and intense. He's a very physical player and seems to play with heavy strings, giving a sense that he is really digging in.

Mark Turner came on for the second number, starting it solo. He has a very clear, woody tone and there is a vertical/arpeggio-based approach to his soloing, often moving into the upper register. He literally bobs up and down with the notes. There is a "pure" or cool/meditative quality to his playing. There are no obvious blues inflexions and he doesn't excite the rhythm section. That said, it is very musical and satisfying.

Jeremy Pelt is a fiery trumpeter with a beautiful tone on flugelhorn. Dressed in suit, tie and shades he would have been perfectly at home on an Art Blakey date in the late Fifties. A marked contrast to Mark Turner, his exciting solos touch the rhythm section up a notch in terms of energy. Eric Harland on drums was outstanding, his style restless, thoughtful and tasteful.

I'd like to here Baptiste on CD. There was plenty to listen to but his sound was compromised by a poor PA. Talking to him afterwards he admitted that it was "a really cool band" and he clearly enjoyed just being in such brilliant musical company.

There were various partners involved in putting on the gig, including the u-turn project that supports women who have suffered cruelty and abuse and encourages them to make sustainable changes in their lives.

Other reviews:

FT

Daily Telegraph

YouTube clip

Is this the jazz album of 2006?

I was interested to read the critics choice of albums for 2006 in Jazzwise magazine. I don’t own any of them, but I have heard tracks on the radio. Top of the list is Branford Marsalis - from what I have heard it’s in the classic acoustic jazz quartet tradition, and something that Branford could have made some ten or fifteen years ago. A few critics have mentioned the Metheny/Mehldau album, the second most played 2006 album on my iPOD. However, no one mentioned the most played album on my iPOD this year (and by implication the best) – Aaron Goldberg’s Worlds album. Aaron who? Good question. Though little known in this country, New Yorker Aaron is hopefully destined for great things.

18 months ago I saw my guitar hero, Kurt Rosenwinkel, at the Soho Pizza Express. The band included New Yorker Chris Cheek on tenor, a fantastic drummer called Eric Harland and the pianist Aaron Goldberg. A bit of research told me that Aaron is well known as a sideman for people like Betty Carter and Joshua Redman, Eric plays with Joshua and veteran vibes-player Bobby Hutcherson in the SFJAZZ Collective and Aaron and Eric play together in a trio that has recorded an album on which Kurt Rosenwinkel guests. Given the calibre of these musicians, it was worth checking out. The album exceeded my expectations by miles.

The trio includes bass player Reuben Rogers and the title "Worlds" seems to be a reference to range of influences at work on the music on this album. The opening track, Lambada de Serpente, starts with simple piano figure played over a three chord sequence before a snaking melody comes in on piano and bowed bass. The drums come in a with a loping latin feel, played by hand, gradually waking up as brushes come in. As with several of the tune, the first solo is on the bass. This suits the tune because it has plenty of space for subtleties to be heard.

Another highlight is Kianda’s Song, a two-minute jewel featuring the worldless voice of Brazilian vocalist Luciana Souza. The piece has a strong Brazilian feel - not the Brazil of Jobim but that of Villa Lobos who combined folk music with JS Bach in pieces like Bachianas Brasileiras. A piano introduction precedes the tune sung by Luciana in a low-ish register, before moving up an octave. Her voice is stunning both in its range and its sensual qualities.

Unstablemates is very much in the stop start Bill Evans/Paul Motian tradition, seamlessly melding composed and improvised segments. The soloing has astrong does of bebop phrasing, but there isn't a single note wasted.

Ther are a couple of Jobim tunes - Modhina starts atmosphercially with plucked piano strings and the tune played out of time before moving into a slow bluesy feel for the soloing. Inutil Paisagem (Useless Landscape) is played very slowly and, overeall, feels most like the Brad Mehldau trio. Unusally, Reuben uses electric bass and takes the first solo, reminding me of guitarist Wes Montgomery who played bass on his Movin' Along album.

The best performance on the album is probably Oud to Omer, where they are joined by Kurt Rosenwinkel. The Oud in question is the four-stringed Middle-Eastern lute and the melody has has the intricate feel of an Egyptian or Turkish melody. Kurt's exploratory solo show off his virtuosity and his ability to take his solos to places rarely visited by other guitarists. He seems to explore every note available to him while still making rhythmic, harmonic and melodic sense.

These guys make beautiful music sound effortless. Their obvious virtuosity is completely subservient to the demands of the music, and they have play as if they have nothing to prove. It has a nice balance between sounding composed and improvised and could quite easily be heard in the concert hall or the jazz club.

Like the Brad Mehldau trio, this trio has its roots in the sound and approach of the early Bill Evans Trio. Both are tightly integrated units and both have the abilty to intelligently desconstruct and breathe life into standard tunes. With Brad Mehldau, the piano is usually firmly at the fore, with Aaron’s band there seems to be a better balance and more subtle interplay between the individual instruments. Brad relies a lot on rhythmic drive, whereas Aaron is a cooler player with strong sense of dynamics and composition. For Brad, the European classical/romantic piano tradition (e.g. Schubert) is an obvious reference point, whereas Aaron’s repertoire is more varied in terms of time feel and modality, often suggesting South American or Middle-Eastern references (Oud to Omer is an obvious example).

It’s highly likely there's not enough room in the world of jazz promotion to support another leading piano trio - I have seen no references to Aaron Goldberg in Jazzwise, for example. Don’t let that put you off, this truly is one of the outstanding albums of 2006.