Recent Listening: Kurt Rosenwinkel

Kurt Rosenwinkel, Reflections (Wommusic). From his first recordings in the 1990s, Rosenwinkel’s guitar playing has had an element of pensiveness. Regardless of tempo, complexity or adrenalin-fueled collaborators, he radiates the air of a man who won’t hurry through even his most complex improvisations. Rosenwinkel’s assurance and thoughtfulness are consistent in this set of standards, jazz classics and one original. Bassist Eric Revis and drummer Eric Harland are capable of speed and intensity, but here they are at one with Rosenwinkel’s thoughtfulness. The trio gives particularly loving treatment to Thelonious Monk’s title tune, Wayne Shorter’s “Ana Maria” and the standard ballad “More Than You Know.” The album’s longest track begins with Rosenwinkel’s leisurely unaccompanied introduction to his “East Coast Love Affair,” a tune beginning to show staying power in the jazz repertoire.