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Kurt Rosenwinkel Trio: Angels Around

By Geno Thackara
July 8, 2020
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However much

Kurt Rosenwinkel

guitar
b.1970

" data-original-title="" title="">Kurt Rosenwinkel has audaciously wandered away from familiar tracks in his career, the spirit of jazz has always stayed central to his roots and his playing. For every surprising exploration such as the electronic Heartcore (Verve, 2003) or the richly dense Caipi (Heartcore, 2017), there's been a relatively straightforward jam or standards date for more traditionalist listeners to appreciate. While Angels Around is clearly one of the more traditional ones even at a glance—a simple guitar trio playing a program mostly of time-honored chestnuts—the musicianship and interplay still make this tidy set into a rich whirl through jazz's past and present.

Fittingly, the program tends toward some deep-cut compositions rather than the most obvious ones their respective authors are known for.

Thelonious Monk

piano
1917 - 1982

" data-original-title="" title="">Thelonious Monk's "Ugly Beauty" eschews the composer's awkwardness to focus on the beauty, creating a breezy almost-tropical feel thanks to

Gregory Hutchinson

drums
b.1970

" data-original-title="" title="">Gregory Hutchinson's swaying rhythms and Rosenwinkel's sweet-toned gliding along the frets. When they visit Mr.

Paul Chambers

bass, acoustic
1935 - 1969

" data-original-title="" title="">Paul Chambers next, it's time to clatter and swing in timeless bop style,

Dario Deidda

bass

" data-original-title="" title="">Dario Deidda spinning a walking bass line that could just keep walking all day and night (barring his supple solo, which is electric in both senses of the word). A couple originals from Rosenwinkel and Deidda fit right alongside the songs of

Charles Mingus

bass, acoustic
1922 - 1979

" data-original-title="" title="">Charles Mingus and

Antonio Carlos Jobim

piano
1927 - 1994

" data-original-title="" title="">Antonio Carlos Jobim, all the pieces old and new giving the players space to paint in their own shades.

The trio gives

Joe Henderson

saxophone
1937 - 2001

" data-original-title="" title="">Joe Henderson's "Punjab" a treatment that stays breezy without going lightweight, the leader and Deidda trading off lead and support as smoothly as Hutchinson's shifting and percolating underneath. Their take on

Bill Evans

piano
1929 - 1980

" data-original-title="" title="">Bill Evans with "Time Remembered," meanwhile, takes a detour from the pianist's trademark romanticism for some sunny and light-swinging grooving with a tinge of samba. As simple as the setup may be, these are players that can span the spectrum of jazz history within it, Rosenwinkel touching on dreamy

Grant Green

guitar
1935 - 1979

" data-original-title="" title="">Grant Green melodicism or

Wes Montgomery

guitar
1923 - 1968

" data-original-title="" title="">Wes Montgomery block-chording as easily as the approachable fusion of

John McLaughlin

guitar
b.1942

" data-original-title="" title="">John McLaughlin. Anyone familiar with these players should know enough to be open to everything, and a little of everything is exactly what they get here, in an approachable session open to anyone.

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Track Listing

Ugly Beauty; Ease It; Self Portrait in Three Colors; Simple #2; Punjab; Time Remembered; Angels Around

Personnel

Kurt Rosenwinkel

guitar

Dario Deidda

bass

Gregory Hutchinson

drums

Album information

Title: Angels Around | Year Released: 2020 | Record Label: Heartcore Records

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