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Kurt Rosenwinkel and Jonathan Kreisberg

Transcription Study: Part 1
23 April 2012 by Dixon Nacey 5 Comments

While studying at Auckland University, I studied and transcribed both Kurt Rosenwinkel
and Jonathan Kreisberg, two of todays heaviest modern jazz guitarists.

In essence I extracted 8 concepts for improvisation from my transcriptions not the actual
notes these great musicians played in their solos, but the underlying ideas or principles
polyrhythmic groupings, chordal super imposition, patterns, displacement etc and then
composed the concepts into my own lines (as written soli) over newly composed harmonic
progressions.

The effect that this had on my playing was massive! I really struggled with playing the same
ideas over and over and so this approach helped me think of new ways of playing my
(rather stale!) vocabulary, rhythmically, harmonically and melodically. Please feel free to
download the PDF of my studies (Transcription, actual study text and MP3 recordings of
my tunes).
Enjoy and please leave comments!

Conceptual Extraction Method

Introduction:

I am a guitarist with 17 years experience playing jazz in many different ensembles and in a
wide range of styles. I have taught jazz at tertiary institutes throughout New Zealand
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(guitar, ensembles, improvisation, moderation) for nine years. Most of my career has been
based around performing, recording and teaching jazz but I have also spent a lot of time
working on improvisation, often by transcribing my favourite players soli.

In the course of researching texts and the internet, conversing with accomplished
practitioners of jazz and listening to recorded works, I have found there to be a growing
tendency of jazz guitarists who most likely through the processes of transcription, have
more or less developed into clones of the great players they have studied. That is to say
they have copied the artists lines, licks, phrases, tonal effects and textures exactly and then
applied these to similar, or in many cases, the same harmonic and rhythmic contexts.

While transcribing licks and lines is a valuable tool in understanding a players perspective
on what notes go where over a given chordal framework, I believe that studying the
conceptual ideas behind the notes will yield many more possibilities for potential note
choices when applied to a new set of chords.

My desire to bene t from other great artists improvisations without copying them note for
note is the driving idea behind this project. Having done many transcriptions I am now
much more interested in examining and utilising the underlying conceptual structures
behind the transcribed notes, rather than just copying patterns and licks.

I am studying the style of modern jazz (post 1980) as it is most aligned with where I am at
in my personal approach to improvisation and is the most relevant and useful resource in
developing a modern style and sound. It is also the least represented subject in internet /
written media; there is a vast amount of video and text resources which deal with
traditional
approaches to improvisation and very little that deals with deeper improvisation concepts
in an accurate and thorough manner and to a high standard of quality.

And so for this course of study, I will extract the concepts and ideas behind the improvised
lines of two leading modern jazz guitarists and from these concepts, create my own linear
passages independent from the chordal and rhythmic implications of the original musical

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contexts. I will then take these lines and rewrite them into two original soli (applied to new
harmonic and rhythmic contexts), record the pieces and write a summary of my ndings.

Transcription Artists:

For my artist choices I have selected Kurt Rosenwinkel and Johnathan Kreisberg, the
reasons being that both artists are well regarded within the international jazz guitar scene,
both have several albums of small ensemble / trio recordings of a comparable nature and
quality in studio / live situations and they are both leading exponents technically, musically
and experimentally of modern jazz guitar improvisation.

On a more personal level, these player interest me because of their mastery of the
fundamentals of time, tempo and technique, the highly advanced nature of their harmonic
and rhythmic language and also the control and nesse with which they structure their
improvisations. Moreover, they are both at the cutting edge of modern improvisational
concepts, having a great traditional jazz language basis on top of which they have
developed modern, individualised language.

Artist Biographys (rewritten from internet sources)

Kurt Rosenwinkel, (born October 28, 1970) is an American jazz guitarist who came to
prominence in the 1990s. He is known for his distinct sound and style of improvisation that
is in uenced by artists as diverse as Allan Holdsworth, George Van Epps, Duke Ellington,
John Coltrane, Bud Powell and Elmo Hope. He attended the Berklee School of Music for
two and a half years before leaving in his junior year to tour with Gary Burton. He then
moved to Brooklyn where he continued to develop his jazz guitar skills by performing with
Human Feel, Paul Motians Electric Bebop Band, Joe Henderson Group, and the Brian
Blade Fellowship. During that time he began using a Lavalier lapel microphone fed into his
guitar ampli er to blend his vocals & guitar into what has become his trademark sound.

In 1995 he won the Composers Award from the National Endowment for the Arts and
was eventually signed by Verve Records. Rosenwinkel then branched out as a leader in his
own right an adventurous, searching artist whose playing is marked by a kind of kinetic
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melodicism, darkly delicate lyricism and cascading, horn-like lines, Rosenwinkel has, over
the course of four brilliant recordings for Verve, established an instantly recognizable
voice on the guitarwarm and uid with a tinge of overdrive, a touch of sustain and echo
with a penchant for dissonance. Through his rst three albums, Rosenwinkel forged a tight
alliance on the frontline with tenor saxophonist Mark Turner. The world renowned Joshua
Redman lls that role on Deep Song and together with Mehldau, Grenadier, Jackson and
Ballard, they all strike an uncanny chemistry on Rosenwinkels sixth album overall as a
leader (he had previously recorded two albums in the 90s for the Fresh Sound and Criss
Cross labels).

Originally from Philadelphia, Kurt Rosenwinkel currently resides in Berlin serving as

professor of jazz guitar at the
Hochschule fr Musik Hanns Eisler. See: http://www.kurtrosenwinkel.com

Jonathan Kreisberg, Born in New York City, guitarist / composer Jonathan Kreisberg
started playing guitar at the age of ten and at 16 was admitted to the New World School of
the Arts, where his jazz studies took center stage. He was featured in Guitar Player and
DownBeat while still in his teens, won a scholarship to the University of Miami, and held
the guitar chair in the acclaimed Concert Jazz Band, touring Brazil and performing with Joe
Henderson, Michael Brecker, and Red Rodney. He performed 20th century works with the
New World Symphony under Michael Tilson Thomas, recorded a C.D. and performed with
the progressive rock group Third Wish and also formed the rst incarnation of the
Jonathan Kreisberg Trio. Based in Miami, this electric based Trio released a C.D. and
completed several U.S. East Coast tours, which included opening slots for George Benson
and Steve Morse. He also began giving clinics at music schools and universities.

In 1997 he returned to NYC with his focus on cutting edge acoustic jazz, working with
many jazz greats including Lee Konitz, Joe Locke, Dr. Lonnie Smith, Joel Frahm, Greg Tardy,
Lenny White, Roy Nathanson, Donald Edwards, Jane Monheit, Ari Hoenig, and Yosvany
Terry. He has also led groups of various instrumentations featuring artists such as Bill
Stewart, Larry Grenadier, Matt Penman and Scott Wendholt and recorded 5 CDs as a

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leader, including The South of Everywhere, which spent 15 weeks on the JazzWeek Jazz
Album Chart.

Although based in New York City, Jonathan can be seen on tour worldwide, recently
completing successful tours of Spain, Portugal, Denmark, Finland, Italy, and Japan. With
return visits to these countries as well as Sweden, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Mexico,
and Ecuador planned for the near future, Jonathan is quickly establishing himself as a
serious and unique voice on the international jazz scene. See:
http://jonathankreisberg.com/

Aims:
I aim to develop a method for the extraction of musical concepts from transcriptions which,
while minimizing the risks of directly copying, will unearth valuable improvising tools that
will in turn enrich my approach to teaching and performing improvisation.

Method:
I will transcribe four modern improvised pieces with a focus on linear passages (8th note
divisions, continuous passages etc) and modern jazz guitar language. Two pieces are
performed by Kurt Rosenwinkel (both original pieces entitled Zhivago and Minor Blues)
and two are by Jonathan Kreisberg (both non original but harmonically modern pieces;
Countdown by John Coltrane and Windows by Chick Corea). Rather than just listening
to and selecting modern sounding passages from the artists improvisations, I have chosen
to transcribe a large volume of material (approximately 400 bars in total) to ensure an
appropriate amount of conceptual ideas are unearthed and investigated in the course of
this work.

I will isolate and mark passages of high interest (in red) with regard to patterns, licks, and
harmonic / rhythmic events which encapsulate the usage of non-traditional harmonic jazz
vocab lines, harmonic super impositions and substitutions and also any non-traditional
rhythmic passages. These lines of high interest will be chosen for their advanced
conceptual
structure, for example:

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Harmonically: Interesting harmonic substitution or super imposition, large intervallic

leaps, non-scalar runs, chromaticisms, out-of-phase harmonic pulse, non or partial
resolution and scale running against changes, unrelated modulations or transitions
against the extant chordal framework.

Rhythmically: Non continuous / interrupted phrases of any traditional subdivisions,

divisions of the crotchet or minim into 5 and 7 even durations and /or uneven divisions of
the bar to form modern rhythmic non-resolutions or tensions. Groupings of uneven beats
against even meter or vice versa.

I will exclude traditional linear passages from the analysis process as they will not be as
relevant to the aims of this paper but I will include surrounding passages for the purposes
of context. All transcriptions will be in standard notation form with lead sheets describing
chords, meter, tempo and feel. I will analyse and explain the concepts behind the chosen
passages and in order to minimize the risk of directly copying the original transcriptions I
will compose new and different chordal structures into which original lines developed from
these concepts will be inserted. I will not use direct licks / lines / passages but rather the
conceptual ideas as explained above, as the basis of my written soli. I may reinterpret the
extracted concepts with rhythmic and harmonic variations in order to show development
of these concepts and to retain a sense of melody in the context of the new environment. I
will then record the soli, analyse them and present my ndings in a written summary which
will explain the concepts Ive used, how Ive applied them, how they relate back to the
original soli and the effects these concepts have had on my personal approaches to
improvising. The summary will also include comparisons between the original transcribed
soli and the nal written soli and any practical methods (teaching systems) which may be
applicable / useful to others.

Expectations:

I expect to nd a huge wealth of modern and thoroughly developed underlying concepts in

both players soli, beyond the traditional. I would also think that many of these concepts will
be useful to me (as an advanced improviser on the guitar), to my students and in general to
many learning musicians interested in improvisation of this nature.
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Transcribed Tune #1

Zhivago is a fast paced tune (240-250 bpm), in with a swung 8th note feel, although at
this tempo the depth of the swing is very hard to measure (i.e. 8th note passages often
sound straight rather than swung). The solo form is in 4 parts with Gb major, B major, Db
major and Ebmin as the main tonal centres for each part.

In order to show development and interpretation of the artists concepts into a new and
different context, I have composed a piece of music (a chordal framework I have called
Rosen Koncept) in a contrasting style and tempo to function as an improvising vehicle for
the new lines I have invented. The rst three chord progressions are all the same length (8
bars) repeated consecutively, hence:

On to this framework I will write new lines created from the extracted concepts (one
concept per 8 bar measure). The lines of interest that form the basis of concepts 1, 2 and 3
will be drawn from Zhivago. Concepts 4 and 5 will be drawn from Minor Blues and
applied over a variation on the 8 bar progression used here. There is in most cases more
than one concept that can be extracted from each of the chosen linear passages (these will
be referred to as concept sets).

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Musical concepts extracted:

Intervallic: Usage of large intervallic leaps (non adjacent scalar tones).

Fragmented scale usage: Ascending continuous lines utilising scale fragments and
semitones.
Semitone resolution: Semitonic resolution from chords in bar 1 to bar 2.
Out of phase: Harmonic anchor pulse in melody out of phase with rhythmic anchor
points (i.e. the upper structure extensions of the scale are on the strong beats rather than
the primary tones).

Intervallic: Usage of large intervallic leaps in bars 1, 3, 5 and 7. Start points for lines are
also displaced.
Fragmented scale usage: Ascending continuous lines utilising scale fragments and
semitones (bar 1), further developed by writing bars 3 and 5 in descending form and also
breaking up the passages of 8th notes rhythmically for purposes of melody
throughout.
Semitone resolution: Semitonic resolution from chord to chord, further developed by
semitonic non-resolution from bars 1 to 2, 3 to 4 and 5 to 6.
Out of phase: Harmonic anchor pulse in melody out of phase with rhythmic anchor
points on beats 1 of bar 2, and beats 1 and 3 of bar 4.

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Musical concepts extracted:

Poly rhythmic grouping: Usage of poly-rhythmic device (repeated quarter note 8th
note 8th note grouping over two beats which creates a half beat pulse against the 3/4
pulse).
Pattern: Descending lines utilising adjacent then quartal scale fragments (pattern
devised from scalar transformation).
Out of phase: Harmonic anchor pulse in melody is again out of phase with the rhythmic
anchor points, same as in the extracted lines of interest #1. This seems to be made
possible by the often delayed harmonic resolution of his lines as evidenced in the Bbmi11-
Abmi11 bars (65 66) at the start of the passage. This creates an overall melodic sense
even when notes played on strong beats are not necessarily primary tones or guide tones
as would be expected in most melodic passages.

Interpreted and reapplied concepts in own linear passages:

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Poly rhythmic grouping: Usage of poly-rhythmic device developed by repeating an 8th

note 8th note 8th note rhythmic grouping over one and a half beats which creates a
dotted quarter note pulse against the 4/4 meter pulse (bars 9-11).
Pattern: Descending lines utilising a patternistic scalar transformation approach in bars
9-11 but instead of the adjacent >> quartal scale fragments from the original concept of
Kurts, I have inverted this pattern to quartal >> adjacent scale fragments.
This is further developed by writing bars 13-15 in ascending form.
Out of phase: Harmonic anchor pulse in melody is out of phase with the rhythmic anchor
pulse at many points, a characteristic of using uneven beat groupings against an even
grouping form (3 over 4 in this case).

Musical concepts extracted:

Pattern / intervallic: Descending (for one 3/4 bar of 6 8th notes) then ascending (for
one 3/4 bar of 6 8th notes) usage of patternistic scalar transformation through intervallic
leaps and scale fragments. The basic pattern is 1-5-9-10-13-14, with a few tiny alterations
(bar 149 is replaced with a rhythmic motif possibly as breathing space from the barrage of
notes and bar 156 begins with the 7th of Dbmaj [the note C] instead of the tonic). Most

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usually however, this pattern is kept true and transforms through each new chord type in
the same intervallic fashion.

Pattern inversion: at the end of the rst 8 bar form of this section (bar 150) the pattern
is started almost as a pick up into bar 151 so that the pattern now begins in a descending
form at the next 8 bar measure (151)

Pattern / intervallic: I have reinterpreted the original concept into a pattern made of
continuous 8th notes with the intervallic formula 1-6-9-10-13-17-14. Using this formula
the guide tones and upper extensions of the chord (and basic scale) are spelled in a very
open manner, with notes spread more than two octaves. This arpeggiotic pattern omits the
5th which is most often the note omitted from the spelling of a chord if it does not contain
an altered 5th ( at or sharp 5). From a technical stand point, it presents quite a challenge in
both ngering (left hand) and picking (right hand) when played on the guitar.
Pattern inversion: The pattern is played from the lowest point to the highest for the rst
4 bars then inverted for bars 21 23 then reverted back to its original form at bar 24.
Rhythmic displacement: Seven 8th notes against 4/4 (bars 17-19). Rosenwinkels
pattern had an ascending / descending direction which creates a more melodic structure
but I have opted to utilise the initial tonic position of the new pattern for the rst three
repeats so that the seven note rhythmic grouping is more evident upon listening.

Full Lesson Transcription

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Dixon Nacey
Teacher and Mentor at jazzguitarlegend.com

Dixon Nacey is a proud father and founder of jazzguitarlegend.com a site dedicated to teaching the art
of jazz guitar.

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Tagged With: Improvisation, Kreisbergian Mindset, Kurt Rosenwinkel

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brendan Mod 2 years ago

What makes Kurt such a sort after player in the jazz world??
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john collins 3 years ago

thanks for this, Dixon..will try to comprehend it..may need help from you..cheers !
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dixonnacey > john collins 3 years ago

hey mate - let me know if you have any specic queries!
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john collins > dixonnacey 3 years ago

thanks !..will message you when get into trouble...cheers !
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dixonnacey > john collins 3 years ago

nice!
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