*****RINGER OF THE WEEK****BACK IN THE DAY…Kurt Rosenwinkel: The Next Step Band-Live At Smalls 1996

It’s amazing how each member of this 1996 band of leader/guitarist Kurt Rosenwinkel with Mark Turner/ts, Jeff Ballard/dr and Ben Street/b is now a major name on his respective instrument. To put things in perspective, Rosenwinkel is still a few years away from his classic Heartcore, and his partnering with now tenor icon Mark Turner was in its nascent state. This gig is a treat, as all of the basic ingredients of their fame is evident, as Rosenwinkel displays his effects on the kinetic “Alpha Mega” while his strums and piano work on the dramatic “The Next Step” give hints of his wide range of ideas. Ballard and Street rock hard around the leader’s riffing chords on “Zhivago”as guest Brad Mehldau is in a rollicking mood, and Tuner is a work of art, passionately cool on “Use of Light” and glowing with the leader on the lovely “A Life Unfolds”. The early years of art.

 

www.heartcore-records.com

www.kurtrosenwinkel.com

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