Heartcore (Verve)
Kurt Rosenwinkel
Released August 12, 2003
All About Jazz The Most Exciting Jazz Albums Since 1969
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About:
Since the initial release in 2003, Kurt Rosenwinkel’s Heartcore has been lauded by casual listeners and musicians alike for its forward-thinking vision and conception and seamless integration of electronic elements with acoustic jazz interplay. The album features Kurt Rosenwinkel on guitar, voice, and synthesizer, Mark Turner on saxophone, Jeff Ballard on drums, Ethan Iverson on piano, and was produced by Q-Tip of A Tribe Called Quest. Much has changed since the early 2000’s- all of the musicians involved with Heartcore have since risen to the forefront of the global contemporary music scene, and the album itself has gained the status of a ‘cult classic’ in many circles. Music technology has changed and advanced as well, and the possibilities of digital home studio production are nearly endless. Rosenwinkel has moved on from Universal Music to create his own label, the aptly-titled Heartcore Records, where he continues to push the boundaries of his art.
Now, Rosenwinkel and Heartcore Records release an updated version of Heartcore, making use of today’s advanced music technology. This new version of Heartcore is released as a top quality Double Vinyl LP in limited production including exclusive bonus material. In addition, Kurt Rosenwinkel arranged his brilliant composition “Love in the Modern World” for a live chamber orchestra.
Track Listing:
1. Heartcore (Kurt Rosenwinkel) 08:36
2. Blue Line (Kurt Rosenwinkel) 06:11
3. All the Way to Rajasthan (Kurt Rosenwinkel) 06:58
4. Your Vision (Kurt Rosenwinkel) 08:36
5. Interlude (Kurt Rosenwinkel) 02:44
6. Our Secret World (Kurt Rosenwinkel) 06:13
7. Dream/Memory? (Kurt Rosenwinkel) 03:25
8. Love in the Modern World (Kurt Rosenwinkel / Orchestral Arrangement by Philippe Maniez) 08:14
9. dcba//>> (Kurt Rosenwinkel) 07:54
10. Thought About You (Kurt Rosenwinkel) 05:43
11. Tone Poem (Kurt Rosenwinkel / Ben Street) 03:07
Personnel:
Kurt Rosewinkel: guitar, keyboards, drums, programming, vocals
Mark Turner: tenor saxophone (1, 2, 6, 9), bass clarinet (12)
Ben Street: acoustic bass (2, 3, 6, 7, 12)
Jeff Ballard: drums (2, 3, 6, 9, 12)
Ethan Iverson: piano (9), keyboards (6)
Andrew D’Angelo: bass clarinet (4)
Mariano Gil: flute (5, 7)
Heartcore Orchestra (7)
Philippe Maniez: arranger
Nikol Bóková: piano
Chloé Tallet: flute, piccolo
Balthazar Naturel: flute
Pascal Mabit: alto flute
Chris Speed: clarinet in Bb
Ben Wendel: bassoon
Baptiste Germser: french horn
Héloïse Lefebvre: violin
Nathan Shram: violin and viola
Sary Khalife: violoncello
Arthur Henn: double bass
Recorded and Mixed by Kurt Rosenwinkel and Michael Perez-Cisneros
Mastered by Leon Zervos
Produced by Kurt Rosenwinkel and Q-Tip
Executive-Producer: Jason Olaine
Review:
It took long enough, but guitarist Kurt Rosenwinkel has outdone himself on Heartcore, co-produced with hip-hopper Q-Tip. Fans of his seemingly ancient 2001 release The Next Step will love Heartcore for its continuity in the “Rosenwinkelian” vein of brashly inventive and original melodies and harmonies (enhanced by ambient noise and the simultaneous echo of his voice mirroring his fluid guitar lines). Very few tunes are in 4/4 time. Very few tunes sound like anything else he’s done before. But they all have the core values of modernity and utter straightforwardness and candor.
For the first time, Rosenwinkel uses digital sampling and programming on a recording that he claims consumed much of the last three years and brings together things that he had been wanting to do for a long time.
The core group of The Next Step (Mark Turner on sax and bass clarinet, Jeff Ballard on drums, and Ben Street on acoustic bass) is supplemented by pianist Ethan Iverson, bass clarinetist Andrew D’Angelo, and flutist Mariano Gil in different combinations.
The title track lays out a straight-up backbeat-driven groove, played – believe it or not – by just the leader and his life-long partner in crime, saxophonist Mark Turner. All that percussion and bass is Rosenwinkel’s computer improvisation. And boy does it work. “Blue Line” is mostly an ensemble effort in an acoustic vein, save the leader’s electronic drums juxtaposed against Ballard’s tempered stick work. It follows the asymmetric quality of “Zhivago” and “Filters” from the last album.
Later, on “Your Vision,” Rosenwinkel steps out of the box with a trance-like state of noise followed by a haunting persistent percussive conga groove. The piece draws on modern electronica as well as the electric qualities of Bitches Brew (thus the ambient bass clarinet drones, squawks, and free runs) and the excesses of psychedelic rock a la Jimi Hendrix or Creedence Clearwater Revival. “Interlude” punctuates the interval between electronic mayhem and the return to the as-a-band format on “Our Secret World,” the only tune on the record where the leader plays only guitar, his home instrument, if one can call it that. “Dream/Memory” shows Rosenwinkel taking an introspective look inside himself and the music, punctuating his musical thoughts with distortions and other noise.
I’ll let you find out the rest for yourself. If this isn’t the future sound of jazz, then I can’t imagine what is.
Matt Merewitz (All About Jazz)
