Kurt Rosenwinkel at the Underground

[LWayne]

Last Thursday, my wife and good friend and I checked out the Kurt Rosenwinkel Quartet at a free concert at the Underground, on the Carnegie Mellon University campus in Pittsburgh.

Even though I regularly attend concerts here in my hometown, I was surprised to learn of this new venue. The snack bar/ student union has comfortable overstuffed chairs and a small stage/performance area. The acoustics are perfect for a small jazz ensemble.

My familiarity with Kurt Rosenwinkel was limited to what I had read on the various bulletin boards prior to this performance. I had learned about some groundbreaking performances with Mark Turner. On this basis, I had purchased the "Deep Song" CD while on a business trip in Chicago.

For this night, Kurt's quartet consisted of him playing guitar, Aaron Goldberg on synth, Joe Martin on bass, and Jeff Ballard on drums. While this group is not his regular touring lineup, nor the group that performed on his latest CD, they played very well together nonetheless.

His style is almost effortless and the chords from his electric guitar melded well with the other instrumentation. While most of the set had an electronic influence, it was immensely enjoyable. He is a very talented guitar player.

Since I was not familiar with his work, I did not recognize many of the songs but understand that a large portion of the set was drawn from his two most recent CDs on Verve: "Heartcore" and "Deep Song".

Also had the chance to meet Cannonball-Addict between sets. Besides his Thursday morning radio show on WRCT, he is also very involved in trying to bring bringing some exciting and progressive jazz music to Pittsburgh. You will need to contact him directly for details.

Very enjoyable evening listening to some challenging music from a talented, young, player.

LWayne

[cannonball-addict]

This show was really amazing and I was very pleased to meet a fellow Org board member. It was most exhilarating when Kurt played "Casa Oscura" from one of Mark Turner's older CDs (possibly Dharma Days), and "Zhivago," the opening track to his 2000 release <i>The Next Step</i>. I have listened to these two at least a hundred times each. The latter because I transcribed Mark Turner's solo on it.

It wasn't a particularly loud show. Kurt is really a sensitive player who doesn't seem to feel the need to crank up the volume. He plays very light but intensely and the cool thing is he sings his solos along with himself. Not in the corny blatant style of John Pizzarelli, but in a subtler whisper. Almost as if you're hearing a faint echo.

He was accompanied by the great Jeff Ballard on drums, Joe Martin on bass, and the up-and-coming pianist from numerous Josh Redman releases, Aaron Goldberg (who interestingly was reading an Atlantic Monthly during the breaks and after the gig).

All these guys are extremely promising musicians and I think there's a lot to come from each of them.

Great show. and we're having Ben Monder April 22. So if anyone's in the "tri-state" area (PA, WV, OH), shoot me a line. We'll be happy to have you over. And it's all free!!!!

Matt