perhaps because my musical roots are in rock, the guitar is always a favorite instrument. rosenwinkel also is steeped in the jazz tradition, but does not merely imitate the music of the past. as i've written repeatedly, the tradition of jazz is iconoclastic, and musicians who just repeat the music of the past masters (ellington, monk, miles, dizzy, parker, armstrong, etc...) without adding some of themselves do a disservice to the tradition, imho.
is rosenwinkel at the level of those masters? of course not. yet the music he plays is his own. we can pay tribute to the past by imitating it superficially or by embracing it's spirit of innovation and individual expression.
Posted by Mike at November 2, 2004 09:02 AM