Kurt Rosenwinkel
Berlin Baritone
Album · Jazz · 2022 · Heartcore Records
On Kurt Rosenwinkel’s Berlin Baritone, the jazz guitar star and Berlin-based Philly native shares remarkable discoveries on a new instrument: electric baritone guitar. The album is a worthy complement to Kurt Rosenwinkel Plays Piano, although that solo outing focused mainly on composed pieces, some from previous albums. Berlin Baritone is largely improvised, although “Under It All” first appeared on Star of Jupiter (and again on YouTube in a remotely recorded orchestral version).
To hear Rosenwinkel in this sparse, crystal-clear, and intimate a setting, unmediated by effects except a warm and straightforward reverb, is a rare thing. The vocal quality of his lines, the striking depth and beauty of the baritone’s lower strings, the airy lyricism and flow in and out of tempo, the firm grounding in jazz and blues while looking to other harmonic worlds: everything just comes together on Berlin Baritone, as welcome and exciting an addition to the solo-guitar canon as could be imagined.
To hear Rosenwinkel in this sparse, crystal-clear, and intimate a setting, unmediated by effects except a warm and straightforward reverb, is a rare thing. The vocal quality of his lines, the striking depth and beauty of the baritone’s lower strings, the airy lyricism and flow in and out of tempo, the firm grounding in jazz and blues while looking to other harmonic worlds: everything just comes together on Berlin Baritone, as welcome and exciting an addition to the solo-guitar canon as could be imagined.
Berlin Baritone
Kurt Rosenwinkel
On Kurt Rosenwinkel’s Berlin Baritone, the jazz guitar star and Berlin-based Philly native shares remarkable discoveries on a new instrument: electric baritone guitar. The album is a worthy complement to Kurt Rosenwinkel Plays Piano, although that solo outing focused mainly on composed pieces, some from previous albums. Berlin Baritone is largely improvised, although “Under It All” first appeared on Star of Jupiter (and again on YouTube in a remotely recorded orchestral version).
To hear Rosenwinkel in this sparse, crystal-clear, and intimate a setting, unmediated by effects except a warm and straightforward reverb, is a rare thing. The vocal quality of his lines, the striking depth and beauty of the baritone’s lower strings, the airy lyricism and flow in and out of tempo, the firm grounding in jazz and blues while looking to other harmonic worlds: everything just comes together on Berlin Baritone, as welcome and exciting an addition to the solo-guitar canon as could be imagined.
To hear Rosenwinkel in this sparse, crystal-clear, and intimate a setting, unmediated by effects except a warm and straightforward reverb, is a rare thing. The vocal quality of his lines, the striking depth and beauty of the baritone’s lower strings, the airy lyricism and flow in and out of tempo, the firm grounding in jazz and blues while looking to other harmonic worlds: everything just comes together on Berlin Baritone, as welcome and exciting an addition to the solo-guitar canon as could be imagined.
