Kurt Rosenwinkel Quartet - Intuit

Released in 1998

Intuit, a quartet session devoted entirely to standards, is not entirely representative of Kurt Rosenwinkel's art. However, it does reveal the depth of the guitarist's expertise in the bop idiom, and is therefore worth the attention of devoted fans. Rosenwinkel's sound throughout this straight-ahead excursion is fairly dry -- a touch of reverb, no shimmering delay, no ethereal vocalizing, a bit less distinctive than usual. His highly modern approach to harmony often comes through, however, even on vehicles as traditional as "Darn That Dream." And, as always, he uses the physical properties of the guitar to alter the sonic dimensions of his lines, as when he plays a long string of 16th notes near the bridge during his solo on "When Sunny Gets Blue."

Other highlights include two fast takes of George Shearing's "Conception" and two less-than-commonplace Charlie Parker heads, "Dewey Square" and "Segment." (Miles Davis's "Sippin' at Bells" is wrongly credited to Parker as well.) Rosenwinkel's partners are pianist Michael Kanan (author of "Epiphany," the date's only original), bassist Joe Martin, and drummer Tim Pleasant. The way he interacts with these straight-ahead players says a great deal about his breadth as a jazz musician. It also foreshadows his later attempts to blur the boundary between standard and original repertoire.

AllMusic Review by David R. Adler