Kenneth Vincent John Wheeler, OC (born 14 January 1930, Toronto, Canada) is a Canadian composer and trumpet and flugelhorn player, based in the U.K. since the 1950s.
Most of his output is rooted in jazz, but he has also been active in free improvisation and has occasionally contributed to rock music recordings. Highly respected among his peers for his beautiful tone and extensive range on the trumpet and flugelhorn, Wheeler has written over one hundred compositions and is a skilled arranger for small groups and larger ensembles. His compositions blend lyrical melodies with a distinctive and ever changing harmonic palette.
He has recorded some twenty albums as a leader, and has recorded or performed with Paul Gonsalves, Dave Holland, John Taylor and Norma Winstone (as Azimuth), Anthony Braxton, Lee Konitz, Keith Jarrett, Theo Jörgensmann Quartet, David Sylvian, Bill Bruford, Steve Coleman, Don Thompson, Spiritualized and the Spontaneous Music Ensemble, among others.
Biography
Growing up in Toronto, Wheeler 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, Wheeler 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. 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 one-and-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 still lives in Britain today and is the patron of the Royal Academy Junior Jazz course.
Writing for large ensembles
Kenny Wheeler has performed and recorded his own compositions with large jazz ensembles throughout his career, starting with his first album Windmill Tilter, (1969), recorded with the John Dankworth band. The Windmill Tilter LP today is a collector's item, since the original master tapes have been lost, though there are plans to remaster it from vinyl and reissue it on CD in 2007 on John Dankworth's Qnote label. The big band album Song for Someone, (1973, Incus10) 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. This has subsequently been reissued on CD by Evan Parker's Psi label (psi 04.01)
Improvised music
In the mid-1960s, Wheeler became a close participant in the nascent free improvisation movement in London, playing with John Stevens, Evan Parker, the Spontaneous Music Ensemble and the Globe Unity Orchestra. His involvement in this genre continues to this day.
Small group jazz
Despite the above-noted accomplishments, much of Wheeler's 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 ever to feature Keith Jarrett as a sideman.
Wheeler was the trumpet player in the Anthony Braxton Quartet from 1971 to 1976; and from 1977 he was also a member of chamber jazz group Azimuth (with John Taylor and Norma Winstone).
More recently, Wheeler received widespread critical praise for his 1997 album Angel Song, which featured an unusual "drummerless" quartet of Bill Frisell (guitar), Dave Holland (bass) and Lee Konitz (alto sax).
Critical reaction
"The Wheeler sound is one of the most distinctive in the history of the jazz trumpet. A thin, overblown note is followed by a florid flurry, the high squeal by a long low note he rolls around his mouth like a chewy mint. Although his phrases are bordered, like blotting paper in ink, with romanticism, the comforting phrase is superseded by the querulous, a moment of tenderness by a scream of panic. He has his trademark tics, but is incapable of producing a hackneyed phrase. Like words from a prophet, every note counts."
- Sholto Byrnes in The Independent, 20 August 2002 (quoted on guitarist John Parricelli's website) [1]
Discography
- Windmill Tilter, 1968
- Humming Bird, 1970 (with Paul Gonsalves)
- Song For Someone, 1973
- Gnu High, 1975 (with Keith Jarrett, Dave Holland and Jack DeJohnette)
- Deer Wan, 1977 (with Jan Garbarek, John Abercrombie, Dave Holland and Jack DeJohnette)
- Around 6, 1980
- Double, Double You, 1984
- Walk Softly, 1987 (with The Guildhall Jazz Band)
- Flutter By, Butterfly, 1988
- Music For Large & Small Ensembles, 1990
- The Widow In The Window, 1990
- Kayak, 1992
- Touché (with Paul Bley), 1996
- All The More, 1997
- Angel Song, 1997
- Live at the Montreal Bistro (with Sonny Greenwich), 1998
- Siren's Song, 1998
- A Long Time Ago, 1999
- One More Time (with Norma Winstone and UMO Jazz Orchestra), 2000
- Moon (with John Taylor), 2001
- Ordesa (with Stan Sulzmann and John Parricelli), 2002
- Dream Sequence, 2003
- Island (with Bob Brookmeyer), 2003
- Where Do We Go From Here (with John Taylor), 2005
- What Now?, 2005
- It Takes Two!, 2006
- Other People, 2008
- Nineteen Plus One (with Colours Jazz Orchestra and Diana Torto), 2009
External links
