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Kenny Wheeler

His earliest influences included Buck Clayton and Roy Eldrige but, by the time he left for London, he was looking towards bebop, Miles Davis and Fats Navarro particularly.

After his arrival in London, Wheeler balanced commercial dance band work with gigs alongside modernists like Joe Harriott and Ronnie Scott, and in 1959 joined the Johnny Dankworth band in time for their breakthrough Newport Jazz Festival appearance. He consequently came to be one of the major solo voices in the Dankworth orchestra, and during the end of his stay recorded his first album as a leader Windmill Tilter (Fontana), which featured compositions for big band based on Cervantes’ Don Quixote stories.

In 1966, a chance encounter with drummer John Stevens at the Little Theatre Club in London set Wheeler on a new course. To the surprise of many musicians of his generation, the trumpeter became deeply involved in free music and joined both Stevens’ Spontaneous Music Ensemble and the Tony Oxley group. Through saxophonist Evan Parker and guitarist Derek Bailey, Kenny was initiated into the Globe Unity Orchestra, the German-based big band led by the pianist Alexander von Schlippenback. His membership continues - he is prominently featured on the three albums the Globe Unity Orchestra has recorded for JAPO/ECM.

In 1971, Anthony Braxton, impressed by Wheeler’s abilities to play the demanding charts on the session for The Complete Braxton (Freedom), invited him to join his group. Braxton’s music became Wheeler’s priority until 1976, when the difficulties of commuting between London and New York became overwhelming, but in between he found time to record Song For Someone (Incus), a record that juxtaposed free and jazz elements (and which became Melody Maker Album Of The Year in 1975), and Gnu High (ECM 1069) a still very fresh album with Keith Jarrett, Dave Holland and Jack DeJohnette. Critics agreed that the ECM album marked a new high both for Wheeler and for the label: Quintessential (Stereo Review), Unbeatable (Melody Maker), Supert (Jazz Forum), Miraculous (Time Out) and so on. The same critics, however, have tended to be less vocal in their support for the trio Azimuth (Wheeler, John Taylor and Norma Winstone) whose ECM albums are distinguished by their subtlety and require repeated close listening for full appreciation.

Song For Someone The Musical Life of Kenny Wheeler

by Jack Kenny
March 15, 2025

Song For Someone The Musical Life of Kenny Wheeler Brian Shaw and Nick Smart (Foreword by Dave Holland ) 509 Pages ISBN: # ISBN-13-978-178179 Equinox Publishing Prising apart the complex nature of Kenny Wheeler is a worthwhile task. Wheeler lacked swagger, a swashbuckling attitude and arrogance. He said, “I don't say much and when I do, I don't say much." He was a quiet man but when he played, and composed, his reticence fell ...

Radio & Podcasts

Kenny Wheeler Legacy, Gautier Garrigue, Elise Vassallucci, Erik Jekabson & More

by Ludovico Granvassu
February 22, 2025

Here is a playlist mostly devoted to releases that explicitly or implicitly remind of us of the importance of Kenny Wheeler for today's jazz.Happy listening!Playlist Ben Allison “Mondo Jazz Theme (feat. Ted Nash & Pyeng Threadgill)" 0:00 Erik Jekabson “Jane Wants to Tell You Something (Part 1/Part 2)" Breakthrough (Wide Hive) 0:16 Host talks 9:16 Kenny Wheeler Legacy “Some Doors Are Better Open" Some Days Are Better: The Lost Scores (Greenleaf) 11:40 Jason Keiser “Hotel Le ...

Play This!

Kenny Wheeler: Smatter

by Scott Lichtman
October 27, 2024

The song “Smatter," from trumpeter Kenny Wheeler, offers the chance to hear several grandmasters of jazz concoct high-energy music together. For Wheeler's debut on ECM Records, Gnu High (ECM, 1976), he gathered the creative forces of Keith Jarrett, Jack DeJohnette and Dave Holland on the album's three tracks. Gnu High would quickly be deemed a classic. Wheeler displays a tone that is equal parts warm and penetrating. His solos are uber-musical, transcending lyrical lines to create pure ambience. ...

Album Review

Steve Arguelles: Here

Read "Here" reviewed by Vincenzo Roggero

by Vincenzo Roggero
November 27, 2023

In che modo ci si approccia ad una registrazione di solo batteria, se sei un batterista che non crede negli assoli di batteria? Su questa domanda le note di copertina argomentano in modo brillante, lucido, esaustivo. Il musicista in questione è Steve Arguelles veterano della più vivace scena britannica, membro fondatore dei fondamentali Loose Tubes e Human Chain, collaboratore di musicisti come Lee Konitz, Kenny Wheeler, Hugh Masekela, Chris McGregor. La registrazione avviene nella chiesa luterana di ...

72 Jazz Thrillers

The Most Exciting Jazz Albums since 1969: 1996-1998

by Robert Middleton
October 23, 2023

The albums featured in the fourth installment of 72 Jazz Thrillers are from some of the most famous and accomplished bandleaders in all of jazz. The artists featured here, some with careers of as long as 60 years and half of whom are still living and recording, made albums that prove the timelessness of jazz. From an album of modern pop standards and one of the most revered ECM albums to a gem of Americana, all of these albums have ...

Liner Notes

Bill Bruford: The Winterfold Collection 1978-1986

by John Kelman
September 1, 2023

It's often easy to judge artists based on where they are now, but when you have a recorded legacy as rich as that of Bill Bruford, it's far better to view the body of work as a whole. As divergent as the intrepid percussionist/composer/bandleader's career has been, there are common threads running through all his work, making the earlier, electrified and amplified material on this Winterfold Collection fit contextually as a logical antecedent to his more recent unplugged and improvisation-centric ...

Extended Analysis

A Supreme Love

by Duncan Heining
July 10, 2023

Alan Skidmore is one of the finest saxophonists to come out of the United Kingdom, Europe or indeed anywhere. In fact, it was hearing Skidmore's tenor solo on “Have You Heard?" from John Mayall's Bluesbreakers with Eric Clapton (Decca, 1966) that encouraged a young Michael Brecker to take up the instrument. Skidmore had also served his apprenticeship with blues singer Alexis Kornerin the sixties and by the end of the decade was equally well-versed in the blues and in the ...

Recording

Kenny Wheeler Legacy: The Lost Scores

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers
February 12, 2025

Kenny Wheeler isn't a household name in many American jazz circles. The Canadian trumpeter, flugelhornist and composer was based in the U.K. starting in the 1950s. As a composer and arranger of jazz orchestral scores, he was among the most inventive, daring and gifted in the post-1960 era. [Photo above of Kenny Wheeler in 1988, courtesy of Ebay] What makes Wheeler fascinating is his fluency in straight-ahead jazz, free jazz and rock. He studied composition with British composer and pianist ...
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