Audiences at the North Sea Jazz festival have been familiar with guitarist Kurt Rosenwinkel for well over a decade. His introverted, emotional playing is greeted with captivated silence. Rosenwinkel's mentor Gary Burton took the prodigy out of the Berklee College of Music before graduation so that he could join Burton on tour. He never returned to his studies but his musical career definitely did not suffer. At a young age Rosenwinkel toured with "jazz grandfathers" like Joe Lovano, Paul Motian and Joe Henderson. Later he played with his contemporaries including Brad Mehldau, Joshua Redman and Larry Grenadier. Although he learned his craft in the straight-ahead tradition, Rosenwinkel has always been open to innovation. He is a gifted composer who is also famous for his stunning, fresh interpretations of standards. His latest album, Star Of Jupiter, on which he worked with pianist Aaron Parks, bassist Eric Revis and drummer Justin Faulkner contains only his own compositions.
