Kurt Rosenwinkel interviewed by Pablo Held

I still remember when I first heard Kurt Rosenwinkel's epic album "The Next Step". In the early 2000s I was visiting my guitar friend Riaz Khabirpour in his apartment in Amsterdam. When he went out to practice, I stayed in his place, going through his record collection. I can still tap into the feeling I had when hearing Kurt's intro to "Zhivago" for the first time. I was mesmerized by his otherworldly, fluid and big sound. Lines and harmonies like I hadn't heard before quite like that. Since then, "The Next Step" remained an important album to me and made me check out as much of Kurt's music as I could.
In our talk we get in to his relationship with Ben Street, Jeff Ballard & Mark Turner, memories from his steady gig at Smalls, thinking of other instruments while playing the guitar, the development of his sound, learning other people's music, playing Paul Motian's EBBB .... and then he went over to the piano and demonstrated the process behind his "Cycle 5" and much more.
I'm grateful to Kurt for all the inspiration and for everything he shared so candidly in our conversation.
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[@Jazzbuff1970]

Pablo Held is a gifted musician, but he is also an accomplished interviewer. He allows a comfortable space for his interviewee, and isn’t afraid of brief silence for collecting thoughts. He is listening without interrupting, yet responding with tactful backchanneling. Pablo’s empathy along with his vast knowledge of music is of great advantage to his interviews. These interviews are invaluable documents of jazz history. Many thanks, and keep up the good work, Pablo!

[@PabloHeldmusic]

Wow thanks for the kind words!!

[@manefmusic]

What a privilege be alive in a time where musicians interview musicians with the utmost relevance in their curiosity and reasoning. These are so valuable, thank you Pablo!

[@benjammin4840]

Thank you so much Pablo, you are such an engaged and humble interviewer!

[@PabloHeldmusic]

Cheers Ben

[@seanhanly6508]

Kurt please release Live at Smalls!@!!!!!!

[@PabloHeldmusic]

Oh yesssss ;-)))

[@robwolfe6120]

This is the deepest Kurt interview I've heard. Maybe you can bring him back for part 2 soon. Thank you Pablo! For those who aren't clear on what Kurt is talking about from 1:25:51 to about 1:30:00, by "sabotage" he's means he drastically re-tuned the guitar and fundamentally destroyed what he previously knew about the fretboard (The new tuning was the incredibly different Bb G Db Ab Bb Eb instead of standard tuning EADGBe). If you're an advanced guitarist you can appreciate how unbelievable this is, especially while you listen to Zhivago or other songs from The Next Step album.

[@rillloudmother]

these interviews are a huge contribution to the music.

[@PabloHeldmusic]

Oh wow thanks!

[@briansilcox5720]

Cycle 5 has a very “Pablo-esque” feel to it.

[@well663]

Excellent interview, as always - Thank you, Pablo!

[@PabloHeldmusic]

Thanks for checking it out!

[@tiesergrote]

I agree with you so much about 'vine' .. i feel like 'the unquiet' by matt penman has a similar vibe, especially kurts playing

[@konoharf]

For sure, even the artwork is probably made by the same artist, there are other albums one of them from Mark Turner with the same artstyle in the album cover. Great albums! Also great interview!!

[@jarediledundee]

I too smiled when Pablo mentioned 'Vine' because I've always thought the same thing. And you're so right about 'The Unquiet' having a similar magic. I might also add 'Kris Bauman Quartet', Joel Frahm's 'Live at Smalls with Kurt Rosenwinkel' and of course...my ALL TIME FAVORITE Kurt side-man appearance...'Dharma Days' (I've probably listened to that album 8 million times)

[@tristanpaxton51]

Hey Pablo, you are killing it with these interviews! I wish you guys had talked more about the "Stranger Things..." album. I love that record!

[@sairafogeid]

That was tremendous, I took a lote of notes, Kurt it’s huge! Thanks Pablo to be a bridge, you were great!

[@masterllama321]

So glad i found your channel, you go in deep and ask great questions while allowing the guest all the space they need to fully answer. Thank you for doing this.

[@PabloHeldmusic]

Thank you Jake!

[@RBC2_]

Great interview. Very insightful questions. Thanks

[@PabloHeldmusic]

wow you're fast ;-) thanks

[@grooveworks2493]

What an achievement Pablo! Thank you for drawing out so much reflection on the process of this unique and revolutionary mind.

[@PabloHeldmusic]

Thank you!

[@dancosleymusic]

Yes! Exciting, thank you!!!

[@vbassone]

Kurt is a genius and master!

[@claudiojaviergomez5457]

Kurt Is a revolution un música Thanks for a great interviuw

[@lownessfunk4932]

Amazing interview Pablo!

[@mateohernandez6572]

muuuchisimas gracias por esta entrevista bo!!!

[@mitchkahle314]

Thanks Pablo, for another fun session.

[@reinekefuchs267]

Hey Pablo, thank you so much for these great interviews! Please keep up the good work. Love the calm and relaxed style.

[@rodesicom]

Thank you so much!

[@PabloHeldmusic]

You’re welcome Roberto!

[@rodesicom]

@@PabloHeldmusic Watching it a second time. So much beauty. Damn.

[@PabloTarantino]

Thank you for these interviews. I'm learning and enjoying a lot! Danke Btw, Kurt is so funny 😅

[@Remi-B-Goode]

Wao so cool, thank you, Kurt is so great!

[@ludovicernault]

Thank you Pablo

[@gitarmats]

Thank you! This was super inspiring!

[@andresmarino2788]

“ alligators in lava … lavagators”.

[@PabloHeldmusic]

I like that

[@Remi-B-Goode]

by the way i know exactly what he meant, i m always stuck in this one (or two) way of playing a theme :'( i will improve that i hope!

Thanks for this! So much fun!

[@PabloHeldmusic]

Thanks for watching!

[@HUGEFLYINGWHALE]

Great interview! Also, 56:00 is hilarious

[@PabloHeldmusic]

haha, I know what you mean

[@danielorts1512]

Great stuff as always! Thank you, you are both so inspiring! Where does the audio of intro/outro come from? I know it's East Coast Love Affair, but don't know that version.

[@semiprecioustones]

“ I’d be lost in that for minutes !”

[@tonyedwards4067]

wishing you can do an interview with the amazing Igor Osypov in the future...

[@claudiojaviergomez5457]

My lenguage Is español. Is hard try understand but i can give you thanks for this. Peace

[@PabloHeldmusic]

Thank you Claudio!

[@claudiojaviergomez5457]

@@PabloHeldmusic abrazo Pablo felicitaciones por la entrevista a este Genio de la Música .

[@HUGEFLYINGWHALE]

1:24:50 some jordan peterson shit right there😅