It's easier to get pleasing sounds out of the piano. In some ways, the piano is a more natural instrument to me. I had gotten farther with it and developed something on the guitar. In the end, I chose guitar because I felt I was better at guitar than piano. I studied with a great pianist and teacher in Philadelphia, Jimmy Amadie.
To help make the choice, I decided to take a year of jazz-piano lessons and see where I was with that. I had taken guitar lessons the whole time but I'd only taken piano lessons at the beginning. By the time I got to high school, I knew I wanted to go to Berklee, and I thought I should choose one instrument to focus on. I began playing piano when I was nine and picked up the guitar when I was 12 and played both from the age of 12 on. Now that Rosenwinkel has left Verve, he plans to explore other possibilities on his own label and through tracks that will be available only at his website ( Rosenwinkel has proven that even in the populous field of jazz guitar, a new voice with something compelling to say will be heard. While most of Rosenwinkel's recorded output lies within the broad parameters of contemporary jazz, the Fat Cat set suggests his openness to other avenues of expression. He and bassist Ben Street were exploring South American grooves with celebrated Brazilian musicians Toninho Horta (guitar and vocals) and Robertinho Silva (drums) to a packed house. I caught Rosenwinkel's set on a warm summer night at the Fat Cat in the Village. Singing each note he improvises through a lapel mic fed into his amp creates a wide, legato sonority that is instantly appealing and even otherworldly at times. A trademark of his sound is the blend of his clear guitar tone with his subtle, wordless vocalizing. Rosenwinkel has his own unique identity, though, both as a guitarist and composer. At other times, Rosenwinkel's slurred-note approach evokes the smooth lyricism of Metheny or the intervallic probing of Scofield.
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As far as his guitar playing goes, the torrent of eighth notes that Rosenwinkel is wont to unleash in up-tempo, bop-oriented solos may occasionally recall those of fellow Philadelphia fret master Pat Martino. Some critics have compared his harmonically complex compositions to those of Wayne Shorter. While Rosenwinkel's music reveals traces of the musical influence of others (then again, whose doesn't?), his style is virtuosic and absolutely distinctive. Rosenwinkel grew up in Philadelphia, the son of parents who both played the piano and listened to a variety of music around the house. Smalls provided a forum for Rosenwinkel to explore his ideas, develop his artistic identity, and begin attracting an audience. Mitchell Borden's legendary nightspot Smalls Club in Greenwich Village became the proving ground for Rosenwinkel and company. They established their careers collectively during the 1990s playing an adventurous brand of jazz in various configurations in New York clubs and on recordings for the prolific Fresh Sound New Talent label. He became a pivotal figure in a coterie of rising young jazz musicians that included pianist Brad Mehldau saxophonists Myron Walden, Mark Turner '90, Seamus Blake '92, and Chris Cheek '91 bassists Matt Penman '95, Omer Avital, and Ben Street '88 drummers Jeff Ballard and Jorge Rossy '90 and others. Rosenwinkel was introduced to international jazz audiences through his tours and recordings with Paul Motian, Gary Burton, Joshua Redman, and others in the early 1990s, and he has since built his own career as a headliner.Īfter leaving Berklee in 1991 to tour with Burton's band, Rosenwinkel relocated to New York. His artistry has elicited glowing tributes from jazz guitar-giants Pat Metheny and John Scofield (see the liner notes for Rosenwinkel's Enemies of Energy CD). Rosenwinkel's deep immersion in music over the past three decades has enabled him to record six CDs as a leader (four on the Verve label) and guest spots on nearly 40 other discs. He's describing the idyllic setting of his current home in Lucerne, Switzerland, but his statement could also describe his artistic life. It's like living in The Sound of Music," Kurt Rosenwinkel tells me during a white-knuckle ride down Sixth Avenue in the backseat of a seemingly out-of-control Manhattan cab. Kurt Rosenwinkel '90 stands tall among a crop of young jazz musicians who are breaking new ground. Kurt Rosenwinkel: Jazz Guitar's New Voice
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