Kurt Rosenwinkle - Enemies of Energy

Kurt Rosenwinkel
Enemies of Energy
2000 GRP/Verve

I am far from good with non-fusion jazz guitarists. I mean, everyone at least knows the biggies (Django, Charlie, Wes) plus a few others that might stand out, like Charlie Hunter and Rodney Jones. But often jazz guitar has suffered from an auditory sameness to me. Rosenwinkel is a bit of an interesting find.

He's got a good support group behind him, with Ben Street and Jeff Ballard keeping a solid pulse and Scott Kinsey adding some bold color. Mark Turner has never impressed me much as a leader, but here he fits into the overall sound well. His tenor sax is crisp. Rosenwinkel himself has an edge to him, even when playing more lilting passages. He has more of that Grant Green vibrance than the often cringe-worthy Wes Montgomery hackery that happens in jazz (Wes was brilliant, but he has been second-rate imitated into nuisance).

As of late, Kurt has been collaborating with Q-Tip of A Tribe Called Quest.