Kurt Rosenwinkel "From A Guitarists Perspective"
Two days spent with my former Berklee fellow Kurt Rosenwinkel and a workshop at the Musikhochschule Leipzig, Germany in May 2000 gave ample opportunity to ten years later cherish memories of Boston, to talk for hours about music, guitar playing and more. Insights are to be shared. Here are some of the highlights that may be of particular interest to guitar players:
Guitars
Since the beginning of his professional
career in Gary Burton's Band in 1990 Kurt has favored semi-acoustic
guitars.
Already during his studies at Berklee College Of Music in Boston he was
sighted with a black Yamaha SA 2100, that he also used on his Trio-CD
"East
Coast Love Affair". His second CD under his own name "Intuit" was
recorded
with a brown Gibson 325, while he used a Gibson TD 125 and a Gretsch
Tennessee
Model (with modified pickups) on Chris Cheek's "I wish I Knew". On
recent
recordings such as "Perception" with the Brian Blade Fellowship or Mark
Turners "Ballads" Kurt can be heard with a Gibson 335 Studio model,
lovingly
christened "Albinoguitar" by Brian Blade. For his latest work as a
leader
"Enemies Of Energy", he employed a red Gibson 355 and a purely acoustic
nylonstring of unknown brand, bought for him by bass player Ben Street
in Turkey. Currently Kurt plays a stock black Epiphone Emperor (Year
2000),
equipped with a standard 0.13 set of roundwound D'Addario Strings, that
he plucks with a very hard Dunlop Jazztone 207 pick. Among his many
guitars
there is only one, that he has stayed faithful to through all the
years.
On sunny days during his stint in Boston he could be sighted sitting in
front of Berklee's Mass. Ave building with "Stella". This garbage pick
four-string tenor guitar accompanies Kurt on "Polish Song" ("The
Enemies
Of Energy"). According to Kurt its alternate tuning is not permanently
fixed and changes according to weather conditions.
Effects and amps
Although rooted in the jazzguitar tradition
Kurt distinguishes himself from other guitarists of his generation by
an
openness to technology and new sounds. His preference for semi-acoustic
guitars, with an emphasis in the midrange, stems from a highly
developed
sense for sonic balance within his trios. According to Kurt a darker
sounding
guitar runs the risk of conflicting with the bass, even when played in
a higher register. From his guitar Kurt runs his signal through a RAT
distortion
pedal (such as the one used by Scofield), going into a Line 6 Delay,
followed
by a Lexicon MPX100 effect processor (of its many programs Kurt almost
exclusively uses a "hall" or "large plate" reverb) and finally
amplified
by a Polytone bassamp (with a 15' speaker) from the 80's. To Kurt's
ears
older Polytone amps sound much better than newer models. In line with
general
arms reduction his set-up from cold war Berklee days with poweramp and
Boogie speakers has given way to simple one amp weaponry. For recording
Kurt likes to have his amp miked with a single microphone. On some
recordings
an additional mike captures his falsetto voice (that he employs to
accompany
his lines as well as the top notes of his voicings in unison),
considered
by Kurt an integral part of his sound.
Technique
Watching Kurt play up close quickly shows
that he has thoroughly dealt with all aspects of the instrument. It
might
be noteworthy that he seems to be playing lines mostly with the first
three
fingers of his left hand, with the middle finger serving as an anchor
from
which he frequently stretches towards the saddle. Horizontally and
vertically
the guitar seems to bear no more technical secrets for him. For fast
arpeggios
he likes to use hammer on's with his ringfinger. A very sovereign
picking
hand complements his brilliant left hand technique. Guitarteachers and
authors of guitar methods like to argue over what the "best" right hand
picking technique is. After many years of practicing Kurt has come to
the
conclusion that playing from the elbow (for speed), from the wrist (for
positioning the picking hand over the strings) as well as from the
fingers
(for articulation) all have their individual advantages. Asked by my
(astute
and unforgiving) students about his pinky that he likes to rest on the
picking guard, Kurt replies that this is something that does indeed
tend
to tighten up his right hand on faster tempos and that he is working on
changing that. Luckily my students seemed content with this answer...
Chordal playing
Kurt frequently plays chords with a combination
of fingers and his pick held between thumb and indexfinger. Many full
voicings
are accomplished with his left-hand thumb reaching around the neck.
(Thank
God my students didn't notice... :-). Kurt never practices technique as
an isolated issue. Rather he likes to combine technical studies with a
musical challenge. He constantly invents his own exercises that he
continuously
develops. Some systematic practicing in a traditional sense stood at
the
beginning of Kurt's career such as for example playing modes in
position
in all keys. Kurt remembers practicing scales, various patterns (i.e.
1-2-3-5),
alternating fourpart arpeggios (i.e. in C-major C-E-G-H ascending, C -
A - F - D descending, E - G - H - D ascending, E - C - A - F descending
etc.) in Major, melodic and harmonic Minor. Apparently this form of
practice
still offers a good starting point to familiarize oneself with the
architecture
of the fingerboard.
Improvisation
With a smile Kurt quotes the most frequently
asked question by students and at workshops as being: "What
substitutions
do you use". Very often, the person asking this question would also
turn
out to know impressive three standards...
Even though Kurt acknowledges harmonic analysis
and substitution as very interesting topics Kurt continues to recommend
to such students to rather first memorize as many standards as
possible.
Every jazz standard offers something different and interesting
harmonically
and melodically. Also every memorized standard offers added
opportunities
to employ substitutions. Which leaves only one question: What
substitutions
does Kurt favor ? To me Kurt among many other notable musical
distinctions
is a big fan of triads. Over a given chord Kurt seems to frequently
employ
triads from the first, fourth and fifth degree of the relative major or
minor key. The first couple of measures of his solo over "How Deep Is
the
Ocean" (on "Intuit") exemplify this pretty well. Piano and saxophone
players
commonly use this concept. Kurt considers it common knowledge of any
modern
soloist and accordingly employs it with great command. This approach is
dealt with in more detail than space here allows for example in the
book
"Intervallic Improvisation - The Modern Sound: A Step Beyond Linear
Improvisation"
by Walt Weiskopf (Jamey Aebersold). As many other modern players before
him (Coltrane being one of the first and most notable) Kurt has also
looked
into the "Thesaurus Of Scales And Melodic Patterns" by Nicolas
Slonimsky.
This mathematically constructed collection of intervallic octave
divisions
can be found in many ambitious musicians bookshelf. How to use them in
an organized way or let's say a standard remains a mystery to many.
Kurt
admittedly is also still trying to solve that puzzle. However he likes
the Slonimsky patterns as a "different way to look at the guitar" and
would
quickly quote a few. John Coltrane should also be cited as a strong
influence
on Kurt. He recalls transcribing Coltrane's solos on "Satellite",
"Oleo"
and "Airegin". Three tonic compositions such as the classic "Giant
Steps"
have been part of Kurt's repertoire since Berklee days. He also fondly
remembers transcribing Bill Evans (Piano) Solo on "I Love You" as a
rewarding
experience. He says that in the last couple of years he hasn't
transcribed
much but still considers it a worthwhile occupation. Among his idols
are
also piano legends such as Bud Powell and Keith Jarrett, which as Kurt
puts offer certain aspects in their playing that he tries to emulate.
Interestingly
he never practices singlenote lines and chords as different items but
rather
mixes them and treats them as an entity, which also makes for his
individual
sound and a pianistic approach.
Voicings
What a surprise it was to me when Kurt with
a big grin on his face reached in his guitar bag and took out an old
(at
least 15 years) chord melody arrangement. Oddly enough I knew this one
and that it had come straight from a rusty metal drawer in the Berklee
Guitar Department (no offense - I loved Berklee). That an experienced
player
such as Kurt still keeps an open unprejudiced mind in my opinion very
much
speaks for him. If there is a unified field theory (a topic that Kurt
also
likes to discuss) on playing jazzguitar maybe the formula is that
musical
modesty equals success. Beside an intense study of harmony in general
(mostly
learning by doing and working with standards) Kurt has also been
working
with the late George Van Eps' "Harmonic Mechanisms For Guitar". (This
New
York telephone directory style bible mostly addresses triads and all
their
permutations on various stringsets.) In connection with this method
Kurt
mentions the study of triads from harmonic minor as well as various
possibilities
for the movement of inner voices as particularly interesting to him. In
his playing you will indeed encounter a lot of triads, doublestops etc.
which he seamlessly weaves into his improvisations. Another one of his
personal exercises consists of playing a different voicing on every
quarter
or half note over a standard progression.
Kurt is also a devoted piano player. His
mother (a classically trained pianist) and father (who is an Architect
and plays piano as a hobby) instilled in him a love for improvisation
early
on. His love for the piano is evident. Various humorous stories have
been
witnessed such as wild hotel lobby fights over who gets the piano while
touring with drummer Jorge Rossy...
If you do let him touch the keys it'll be
some time before you can get him off again. In the meantime you might
be
treated to pieces by Thelonious Monk or a version of "Eyes So Beautiful
As Yours" by Elmo Hope, whose chromaticism and controlled dissonance he
admires. Kurt says (and when you listen closely you can hear it) that
many
of his ideas wander from piano to guitar and vice versa.
Alternative Tunings
Kurt reports that at a certain point his
knowledge about voicings led him into a crisis. To have a certain
collection
of voicings for every harmony, and a sound you already internally hear
before you actually play it, would eventually make it redundant to
still
play it. Out of a discontent over letting the fingers dictate which
voicing
would be played he chose voluntary selfsabotage and started to randomly
retune his guitar. Anyone who has ever tried this will know that one
twist
of a tuning peg can turn you into a beginner in an instant. Just like
the
first time you touched a guitar all you have is yours ears to rely on -
and that's exactly what Kurt's intention was. Many years and attempts
later
some tunings have emerged that Kurt likes to use again and again. His
favorite
tuning from low to high e-String would be: Eb (down a halfstep), Bb
(halfstep
lower), Ab (a whole step higher), Db (halfstep lower), G (a whole step
lower) and Bb (down a tritone). An interesting observation with this
tuning
may be the possibility to realize whole and halfsteps between the "G"
and
"B"-string fairly easily and a much fuller sound. Upon closer
examination
"only" three out of six strings really change. E, B and D-string are
keeping
their relative relation but are gaining warmth through their "flat-key"
tuning. His next album on Verve will feature this tuning and several
compositions
that he composed with it.
Composition
Even before the release of his CD "The Enemies
Of Energy" of whose ten originals he wrote nine, Kurt had gained
respect
among musicians for his skills as a composer. For Kurt composing
usually
starts with some kind of discovery. He likens the process to opening a
door. Some of his songs stem from improvisational exercises. "Cubism"
for
example started as an attempt to switch keys within an improvised line.
The result is a twelve-measure form going through twelve keys. (kind of
like going four times through a Coltrane three tonic Giant Steps
cycle).
"Polish Song" than again is an inspired solo guitar piece that was born
from a spontaneous improvisation in his Brooklyn apartment. The
frequently
encountered reservations that many students (and some professional
musicians
alike) seem to have about their own original compositions are not a
problem
for Kurt. He simply says that: "The best thing about composing is that
you don't have to stop until you like."
Practicing
To Kurt practicing creatively is the key
to everything. He takes the conventional and often quoted wisdom that
you
play what you practice very seriously: " If you are stressed out when
you
practice, you will be stressed out when you play. Playing the guitar
means
practicing your mental state of mind." Consequently Kurt practices by
playing:
"I improvise a lot. I mean really a lot. When I hit on something that
I'm
not really familiar with, I stop and work on it. Most of the time I
improvise
over a standard or something like that until I find a spot that I work
on for some time and then I continue to improvise. Kind of like a
discjockey
I go back and forth over a progression or whatever it is that I'm
working
on, until I feel comfortable with it. It's kind of like kneading dough.
Over time some topics have repeatedly come up that I work on regularly.
I constantly invent exercises to work on certain things, such as
problems
arising out of improvising. I think that you are your own best teacher.
When I ask myself what are my weaknesses? I know exactly what they are!
" Talent alone didn't create a Kurt Rosenwinkel. Spending four to eight
hours on the guitar was not a rare thing until not long ago. These days
Kurt spends about two months in a year just practicing: "They don't
call
it hard work for nothing - but it's worth it. Music has always been an
obsession for me - in a good sense. To me it doesn't seem that I've
been
working hard because I've always discovered something."
Kurt's stranded
island records
Beatles - "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club
Band"
David Bowie - "Ziggy Stardust"
Cameron De La Isla & Tomatito - Sampler
Ornette Coleman - "Live At Town Hall"
John Coltrane - "Coltrane`s Sound"
Keith Jarrett - "Still Life"
Bud Powell - Verve Box Set
Sergej Prokofiev - Piano concerto Nr.3
Maurice Ravel - "Music For Piano" - (played
by Monique Haas)
Led Zeppelin - "Houses Of The Holy"
Kurt's
Guitarfavorites
Paul Desmond & Jim Hall - Box Set
Kevin Eubanks - "Opening Night"
Tal Farlow - Verve Sampler
Grant Green - "The Latin Bit"
Pat Metheny - "Rejoicing"
Pat Metheny - "Offramp"
Pat Metheny - "Travels"
Pat Metheny - "Full Circle"
John Scofield - "Blue Matter"
George Van Eps - "Soliloquy"
Kurt Rosenwinkel
Selected
Discography:
Kurt Rosenwinkel - Under It All (2001)
Kurt Rosenwinkel - Enemies Of Energy
(2000)
Kurt Rosenwinkel - Intuit (1999)
Kurt Rosenwinkel - East Coast Love Affair
(1996)
Chris Cheek - I Wish I Knew (1996)
Chris Potter - Vertigo (1998)
Gary Burton & Friends - Six Pack
(1992)
George Colligan - Unresolved (1999)
Human Feel - Speak To It (1996)
Human Feel - Welcome to Malpesta (1994)
Human Feel - Scatter (1991)
Jochen Rückert - Introduction (1997)
Larry Goldings - Big Stuff (1996)
Marcy Playground - Shapeshifter (1999)
Mark Turner - Ballad Sessions (2000)
Mark Turner - In This World (1998)
Mark Turner - Yam Yam (1994)
Once Blue - Once Blue (1995)
Paul Motian - Monk And Powell (1999)
Paul Motian - Flight Of The Bluejay
(1997)
Paul Motian - Reincarnation Of A Love
Bird (1994)
Paul Motian - Electric Bebop Band
(1993)
Perico Sambeat's - Ademuz (1997)
Seamus Blake - Stranger Things Have
Happened (1999)
Seamus Blake - Call (1993)
Tim Hagans - Animation - Imagination
(1999)
Sampler:
Blüth - Blüth (1998)
Jazz Sampler - Method To The Madness Part
1 (1998)
Various Artists - Monk to Bach (1998)
Various Artists - Guitar Music (1996)
© 2006 Christian Rover