Kenny Wheeler

Kenny Wheeler

Kenny Wheeler in 2007
Background information
Birth name Kenneth Vincent John Wheeler
Born (1930-01-14)14 January 1930
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Died 18 September 2014(2014-09-18) (aged 84)
London, England
Genres Jazz, avant-garde jazz, chamber jazz
Occupation(s) Musician
Instruments Trumpet, flugelhorn
Years active 1950–2014
Labels ECM, Fontana, FMP, Soul Note, PSI, CAM Jazz
Associated acts John Dankworth, Evan Parker, John Taylor, Azimuth, Anthony Braxton, Dave Holland, Globe Unity Orchestra, Berlin Contemporary Jazz Orchestra

Kenneth Vincent John Wheeler, OC (14 January 1930 – 18 September 2014) was a Canadian composer and trumpet and flugelhorn player, based in the U.K. from the 1950s onwards.[1][2][3][4]

Most of his performances were rooted in jazz, but he was also active in free improvisation and occasionally contributed to rock music recordings. Wheeler wrote over one hundred compositions and was a skilled arranger for small groups and large ensembles.

Wheeler was the patron of the Royal Academy Junior Jazz course.

Early life

Wheeler was born in Toronto, Ontario, on 14 January 1930. Growing up in Toronto, he began playing cornet at age 12, and became interested in jazz in his mid-teens. Wheeler spent a year studying composition at the Royal Conservatory in Toronto in 1950. In 1952 he moved to Britain. He found his way into the London jazz scene of the time, playing in groups led by Tommy Whittle, Tubby Hayes, and Ronnie Scott.

Career

In the late 1950s, he was a member of Buddy Featherstonhaugh's quintet together with Bobby Wellins. Throughout the sixties, he worked with John Dankworth, and also formed part of (Eric Burdon and) the Animals' Big Band that made its only public appearance at the 5th Annual British Jazz & Blues Festival in Richmond (1965) with tenors Stan Robinson, Dick Morrissey and Al Gay, baritone sax Paul Carroll, and fellow trumpets Ian Carr and Greg Brown. In 1968, Wheeler appeared on guitarist Terry Smith's first solo album, Fall Out.

Kenny Wheeler performing with the United Jazz + Rock Ensemble, 1992

Wheeler performed and recorded his own compositions with large jazz ensembles throughout his career, beginning with the first album under his own name, Windmill Tilter (1969), recorded with the John Dankworth band. A CD was released by BGO Records in September 2010. The big band album Song for Someone (1973) fused Wheeler's characteristic orchestral writing with passages of free improvisation provided by musicians such as Evan Parker and Derek Bailey, and was also named Album of the Year by Melody Maker magazine in 1975. It has subsequently been reissued on CD by Parker's Psi label.[5]

In the mid-1960s, Wheeler became a close participant in the nascent free improvisation movement in London, playing with John Stevens Parker, the Spontaneous Music Ensemble and the Globe Unity Orchestra. Despite the above-noted accomplishments, much of his reputation rests on his work with smaller jazz groups. Wheeler's first small group recordings to gain significant critical attention were Gnu High (1975) and Deer Wan (1977), both for the ECM label (Gnu High is one of the few albums to feature Keith Jarrett as a sideman since his tenure with Charles Lloyd). One exception from the ongoing collaboration with ECM was his rare album on CBC called Ensemble Fusionaire in 1976. This had three other Canadian musicians and was recorded in St. Mary's Church in Toronto for a different character to the sound than on the ECM recordings.

Wheeler was the trumpet player in the Anthony Braxton Quartet from 1971 to 1976, and from 1977 he was also a member of the chamber jazz group Azimuth (with John Taylor and Norma Winstone).

Later life

In 1997 Wheeler received widespread critical praise for his album Angel Song, which featured an unusual "drummerless" quartet of Bill Frisell (guitar), Dave Holland (bass) and Lee Konitz (alto sax).

Wheeler died after a short period of frail health at a nursing home in London on 18 September 2014. He was 84 years old.[6]

Discography

As leader

Collaborations with John Taylor

As Azimuth

Other collaborations

As sideman

With Tommy Smith

With John Abercrombie

With George Adams

With Anthony Braxton

With Jakob Bro

With Bill Bruford

With Rainer Brüninghaus

With Steve Coleman

With Collective Consciousness Society

With John Dankworth With Pierre Favre

With Bill Frisell

With Globe Unity Orchestra

With Paul Gonsalves

With Dave Holland Quintet

With Philly Joe Jones

With Joni Mitchell

With Louis Moholo-Moholo

With Wadada Leo Smith

With David Sylvian

With Ralph Towner

References

  1. ↑ Steve Huey. "Kenny Wheeler | Biography". AllMusic. Retrieved 2015-03-12.
  2. ↑ "Psi musicians". Emanemdisc.com. Retrieved 2015-03-12.
  3. ↑ "ECM 1691". Ecm-records.com. Retrieved 2015-03-12.
  4. ↑ Archived August 14, 2012, at the Wayback Machine.
  5. ↑ "Psi 2004 CD releases". Emanemdisc.com. Retrieved 2015-03-12.
  6. ↑ "RIP, Kenny Wheeler". Ottawa Citizen.com. Retrieved September 18, 2014.
  7. ↑ Album entry on JakobBro.com
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