Prague Spring Jazz: Kurt Rosenwinkel Trio

“Kurt Rosenwinkel can say more in a few lines [of music] than most guitarists manage over the course of an entire career. A relentless explorer […] Rosenwinkel has staked out a singular position in jazz’s firmament as a player, composer, and bandleader with a vast and supremely sophisticated harmonic vision and melodic sensibility,” wrote The New York Times. His reputation as the most important jazz guitarist of his generation, a status he has built up since the 1990s when he moved to New York and became a fixture at the club Smalls, is cemented across almost two dozen albums as leader/co-leader, released by Verve, WOM Music and his own label Heartcore Records, which he established in 2017. The music of this major fan of David Bowie reaches far beyond genre boundaries with his blend of jazz, rock, ambient and classical. “I have always had a thirst for the depth and complexity of music and so it’s just led me through in jazz,” he says. “I have been writing my own music since I was nine years old and my tastes have just been growing since then and my music has been growing since then.” In addition to the guitar he is also an excellent pianist and plays the double bass and percussion instruments as well. All this has shaped Rosenwinkel’s musical identity, typified by complex, mysterious harmonies, a wonderful tone, virtuosic playing influenced by post-bop and fusion, the use of pedal effects, and a sound that partly draws on his albums Heartcore and Star of Jupiter. His melodic lines are inspired by the likes of Charlie Parker, John Coltrane and Sonny Rollins, and his harmonies by Herbie Hancock or Bill Evans. Eric Clapton, Rosenwinkel’s friend and also guest on his album Caipi, often describes him as a musical genius. Kurt Rosenwinkel’s appearance at the DOX Centre for Contemporary Art will provide a rare opportunity to enjoy a live performance by this superb guitarist which is not only technically brilliant but also emotive and open-minded.