Rosenwinkel and band a coup for JazzFest
KURT ROSENWINKEL CAIPI
Considered one of the most influential and original guitarist-composers of his generation, Kurt Rosenwinkel makes his Medicine Hat JazzFest debut with his most recent project, “Caipi.”
This incredibly captivating and mesmerizing project was 10 years in the making and considered Rosenwinkel’s most personal project of his productive career. You can get a preview of Caipi on Rosenwinkel’s page at www.medicinehatjazzfest.com
For those familiar with Rosenwinkel’s music, “Caipi” will strike the ear as something new. Frequent vocal lines hover over the distinct Brazilian flavored rhythms, and in the most sophisticated yet accessible way imaginable, complex and layered textures are at one and the same time jazz inspired and folk-like in totapping universality.
Rosenwinkel’s distinct guitar sound is still present, like the creative thread that leads the procession, and his voice also joins in on the trance-like excursion that this eclectic group of musicians take together through this landscape that reflects elements of jazz and rock as well as folk and world beat.
Joining Rosenwinkel in Medicine Hat will be the same band that he is presently touring around the globe, arriving in Medicine Hat from Rotterdam to kick off their select tour of Canadian jazz festivals from Vancouver to Montreal, only to return a little over a week later to Cordoba. And what a band! Pedro Marins on voice, keyboards and percussion, Antonio Loureiro on percussion and voice, Olivia Trummer on piano, keys and voice, Frederico Heliodoro on bass and voice and Bill Campbell on drums.
Born in Philadelphia in 1970, Rosenwinkel attended the Berklee College of Music for two and a half years before leaving to tour with the legendary vibraphonist Gary Burton, who was the dean of the school at the time. Rosenwinkel moved to Brooklyn, where he performed with the groups Human Feel, Paul Motian’s Electric Bebop Band, the Joe Henderson group and the Brian Blade Fellowship. He relocated to Europe in 2003, and has spent the next nine years in East Berlin, Germany as professor at the Jazz Institute. He has recently left that position and returned to full time music making.
Having a player of the stature of Kurt Rosenwinkel at JazzFest is an honour, and to have him with this new project and the entire band is an even bigger coup.
Rosenwinkel will be performing in the Esplanade Studio Theatre on June 24 starting at 10:30 p.m.
There are lots of ways to connect with JazzFest. The web site has all of the information about the artists as well as daily schedules, links to sound and video files and a downloadable brochure. Follow JazzFest on Twitter and Instagram at @medhatjazz and use the JazzFest hashtag #medhatjazz for everything JazzFest related that you post. You can also find the Facebook page at Medicine Hat JazzFest and keep up on all video content on the YouTube channel.
Brochures have been delivered all over town, to coffee shops, the Esplanade, the Tourist Centre, the Cultural Centre and the Medicine Hat Public Library. They will be in the Medicine Hat News in theweeks prior to JazzFest.
Tickets and passes are available at all Esplanade ticket outlets including www.tixx.ca.
Lyle Rebbeck is producer of Medicine Hat JazzFest.