Kenny Wheeler R.I.P.

[Jazz+]

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[I-missRichardTee]

After listening to him ( my first time hearing him ) I googled Mr Wheeler... and I agree with the article saying he was underrated. RIP Mr Wheeler.

 

[GovernorSilver]

One news source:

https://www.facebook.com/davehollandjazz/posts/10154632875090578

[GovernorSilver]

And now for more tunage:

 

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[GovernorSilver]

From Youtube info:

 

Kenny Wheeler Quintet - Hotel Le Lot

From "The Widow In The Window"

1990

 

Kenny Wheeler (trumpet, flugelhorn)

John Taylor (piano)

John Abercrombie (guitar)

Dave Holland (acoustic bass)

Peter Erskine (drums)

 

ECM

 

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[Dave Ferris]

Aw man...

 

I've played Smatter for about 30 years and still love that tune. Challenging, but logical without being over the top stupid and over complicated where you can't do anything with it.

 

I remember reading somewhere when Keith was first handed the music for Smatter in the studio before the session, he looked at it and said somnething like -- "I can't do anything with this". And then proceded to play a burning solo on the first take...

 

KW was such a very different flavor then what was popular back then in jazz trumpet. Mainly Freddie Hubbard. And to lesser extent, Woody Shaw. If I'm not mistaken it was Manfred Eicher's first recording on ECM with a trumpet player.

 

It was when ECM was still hip, had more meat and wasn't over floaty like a lot of the new younger guys I hear on there now.

 

KW caught flak since he mainly played Flugel. Many American jazz purists dismissed him for being kinda wimpy. I always found him lyrical and swinging. Loved his compositions , his bands and his whole concept as an Artist.

 

I knew he was getting up there and heard he was ailing. But it still comes as very sad news. He certainly added a lot of beautiful melodies to Jazz music. We need more like him today.

 

RIP.

[cleomenesII]

Tragic loss. A beautiful composer and player. I played with him many years ago, and he was a lovely man as well as a consummate musician. Completely unassuming and humble. A really original composer with a distinctive voice on trumpet. Here are a couple of clips with the sublime John Taylor and Norma Winstone (and Ralph Towner!)

 

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[16251]

It's sad to hear someone for the first time knowing he is no longer among us sharing his gift.

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It's sad to hear someone for the first time, like this, knowing he is no longer among us sharing his gift. (I also love early Keith (and Dave,) he did kill that solo. His crispness, wow.)

 

RIP Mr. Wheeler

[Mark Zeger]

I've played Smatter for about 30 years and still love that tune.

This is the tune I posted on FB when I heard he passed. Gnu High is too often overlooked as one the great jazz albums of the '70s.

 

KW was highly influential over a generation of brilliant trumpet players that includes Dave Douglas and Ingrid Jensen, two of my favorites. He's a "trumpet players" trumpet player. I could use a lot more Kenny Wheeler in my own playing, especially on flugel.

[moj]

Gnu High is a great recording. I first got into Keith Jarrett from this album and subsequently got into his solo work. Kenny Wheeler's ecm debut is a classic. RIP.

[David R]

On mobile and in transit so I can't post YouTube clips but playing "Gentle Piece" in my first year university big band brought me into the world of Kenny Wheeler. Music for Large & Small Ensembles is a masterwork and probably one of the most influential records on jazz composition in the past 40 years.

 

Kenny was also my gateway into the music of Anthony Braxton - that 70s quartet with Dave Holland & Barry Altschul is my favourite outward-bound music.

 

Farewell Kenny.

[orangefunk]

Gnu High is a great piece of work. I have had the lead sheet for Heyoke on my piano for the last 2 weeks. I loved Kenny's work on ECM Gnu High is a classic, but so are the Azimuth albums and the Rainer Bruninghaus LP Freigeweht (Kenny is amazing on this) is completely stunning

 

Thanks for the hints on Braxton.. never did check that stuff out

[woodtus]

So sad to hear of Kennys passing. As some here dont seem to have heard much Kenny here are a few great clips

 

 

[video:youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8amPNkgTWfY

 

 

[video:youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KiQ4bTGBCnI

 

 

[video:youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lbP709Cn4mE

[GovernorSilver]

KW caught flak since he mainly played Flugel. Many American jazz purists dismissed him for being kinda wimpy. I always found him lyrical and swinging. Loved his compositions , his bands and his whole concept as an Artist.

 

Funny thing is I actually like his flugelhorn tone and find it quite expressive. It's too bad I finally get more into his music after he passes away.

 

BTW, Aebersold has his transcriptions book on sale. A review on Barnes and Noble complained that the transcriptions were wrong, but I'm after the chart for "Smatter" and other tunes. I'm sure if they got something wrong with a chart, I can try to fix it by listening to a recording and getting help from you guys.

 

http://www.jazzbooks.com/mm5/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=JAJAZZ&Product_Code=KWC#.VB73zy5dUSR

[SK]

Kenny Wheeler had his own expansive musical language and voice on his instruments. I actually identify the flugelhorn with his playing more than the trumpet.

 

I've enjoyed playing several of his songs (going way back to his early piece "Sweet Dulcinea"), many of which I think are great compositions.

 

If I had to pick one favorite this might be it, like a taste of heaven:

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[Dave Ferris]

It's not his tone GS, he sounds great. But then almost everyone who goes from trumpet to flugel does.

 

In the trumpet world, (and maybe Mark can add more insight then me...I'm just repeating what I hear among jazz & studio trumpet players in this town), it's much easier to get a decent tone playing flugel then trumpet. If you just play flugel all the time, people (the trumpet community) feel your trumpet chops are going. Basically it's a much more forgiving instrument then the trumpet.

 

Sometimes guys as they age do switch to flugel as it's not as demanding to stay up on your tone. Plus a lot of the average Joe audience prefer flugel to trumpet since it can be a warmer, softer sound. My wife does for example.

 

Art Farmer is one guy that comes to mind who exclusively played flugel as he got older. Tom Harrell plays flugel more often these days too. Those two guys, along with Kenny Wheeler are about some of the most lyrical name cats on the instrument I can think of off hand.

 

And David BB, love both of those tracks you posted man. John Taylor is one my favorites. He is un-capable of playing anything that isn't beautiful. When you hear music like that, it's hard to comprehend what and why people listen to the drivel that they do today.

[orangefunk]

And David BB, love both of those tracks you posted man. John Taylor is one my favorites. He is un-capable of playing anything that isn't beautiful. When you hear music like that, it's hard to comprehend what and why people listen to the drivel that they do today.

 

I got to hang with John for a little while after a gig (with Marilyn Mazur) in Oslo we chatted about the first Azimuth album esp the EMS synth he used on that album. Really nice bloke Kenny was brilliant with Azimuth too

 

I found a really old video of Kenny Wheeler with Freidrich Gulda, John Surman, Barre Phillips, et al from 1969!!! And in Colour too!!

 

[video:youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iy5CL72u_ic

 

While it's of its time (I do actually like that Hohner Electra Piano sound!) I think the solos of Surman and Wheeler stand out...

[moj]

I've been listening to KW "The Widow In The Window" with John Taylor, Dave Holland, John Abercrombie, Peter Eskine. This group had been together for 2 years before they recorded this. (Kenny is playing the trumpet and fluegelhorn)

Here's an excerpt of the liner notes describing KW's composing approach and dedication to his art.

Liner notes by Steve Lake of the Kenny Wheeler Quintet's 1990 ECM release "The Widow In The Window"

 

Kenny Wheeler, in typically self-mocking mood, once referred to his writing procedure as "a system of de-composing, really". It was a matter, he said, of sitting at the piano for hours on end and "getting rid of ideas" until the composition, by process of elimination, began to emerge. To which one can only say: more artists should be more stringent with the muse. There is no wastage in Wheeler's writing, no indulgences, nothing casual or carelessly tossed off. All of his work is imbued with an imperturbable logic and rightness, a sense of balance and a proportion sustained, indeed, heightened, when the compositions broach uncommon harmonies, reaching beyond jazz's conventional palette to find colours that darkly glow or shimmer brightly.

 

"Hotel le Hot" from "The Widow In The Window"

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[Mark Zeger]

In the trumpet world, (and maybe Mark can add more insight then me...I'm just repeating what I hear among jazz & studio trumpet players in this town), it's much easier to get a decent tone playing flugel then trumpet. If you just play flugel all the time, people (the trumpet community) feel your trumpet chops are going. Basically it's a much more forgiving instrument then the trumpet.

 

Sometimes guys as they age do switch to flugel as it's not as demanding to stay up on your tone. Plus a lot of the average Joe audience prefer flugel to trumpet since it can be a warmer, softer sound. My wife does for example.

 

Art Farmer is one guy that comes to mind who exclusively played flugel as he got older. Tom Harrell plays flugel more often these days too. Those two guys, along with Kenny Wheeler are about some of the most lyrical name cats on the instrument I can think of off hand.

All true, Dave. Flugelhorns and cornets are more "generous" than trumpet. It is about the conical bore of these vs the cylindrical bore of a trumpet. Conical bore instruments have greater warmth of tone. I don't know the physics of why these are easier to play than trumpets. While high note playing is common on trumpet, it's rare on flugel (except for Chuck Mangione) and I very seldom play far above the staff. The horn simply sounds best on the staff and that can be perceived as slacking. When soloing on a ballad, I mix in more long tones on flugel which, again, could be dismissed as taking it easy.

 

Tom Harrell is still playing a lot of trumpet. He's exceptional on flugel. I love hearing Roy Hargrove on flugel, too.

 

Though Art Farmer is well known on flugel, he played a Monette Flumpet late in his career. It's an instrument Dave Monette developed for Farmer. He had a very special model that went to Monette after Farmer's passing. Here's a standard Flumpet and Farmer's decorated horn:

http://www.middlehornleader.com/Flumpet.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3122/2495768308_b7a96551a7.jpg

 

[Werno]

Sad news indeed. Love his work, especially one album I don't see mentioned: Deer Wan with Garbarek, Abercrombie, Holland and DeJohnette. Beautiful, swinging, shimmering stuff, Wheeler and Garbarek soar and the whole band cooks.

 

Hope he's gone to a place as beautiful as the sounds he left behind.

[analogholic]

Very sad to read this....

I love his lyrical playing. Really got his own sound.

"Gnu High" is one of the best records I ever heard!

This is probably my favorite track:

 

[video:youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0s6h0HhCQko

 

Funny to read that Jarrett was uncomfortable before recording "Gnu High" since his playing is incredible.

 

RIP Kenny Wheeler

[orangefunk]

[GovernorSilver]

Excellent tribute article, courtesy of Dave Holland by way of Fred Hersch

 

http://ottawacitizen.com/entertainment/music/jazzblog/remembering-kenny-wheeler-plus-news-of-an-ecm-swan-song

[orangefunk]

Cool documentary on Kenny from 1977.

 

nice version of Hotel le Hot! Also some wonderful rehearsals with the Azimuth band!

 

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[Mark Schmieder]

The "orange" album was my introduction to him, way back, and probably due to the "backing musicians" being three of my favorites at the time (and still today).

 

I tried to follow his career, but like Freddie Hubbard, he hopped labels a lot, and had large gaps between releases. I think he was always better known in the U.K. and probably more focused on a career as a performer than as a recording artist.

 

I am sad to hear of his passing, but not surprised, as he was already in mid-life when his first ECM album was released. I didn't know his exact age, but NYT says 84. Still, these days, that isn't considered terribly old for people who've been in good health.

[Mark Schmieder]

Here are the two most complete of five obits I found just now (the NYT obit isn't very long so I'm not including it);

 

http://ottawacitizen.com/entertainment/music/jazzblog/rip-kenny-wheeler

 

http://www.theguardian.com/music/2014/sep/19/kenny-wheeler-five-greatest-moments-jazz

[woodtus]

he hopped labels a lot, and had large gaps between releases. I think he was always better known in the U.K. and probably more focused on a career as a performer than as a recording artist.

 

Kenny has an extensive discography, you can see it here...

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kenny_Wheeler#Discography

 

He released an album as leader about every 4 years since 1973 so there is no shortage of great Kenny to check out.

 

[Mark Schmieder]

Yeah, it's hard to find though. It's been a decade or so since I was last in the U.K. but I did pick up some stuff while there, that I never saw over here.

 

My brother sent me a link or two as he is busy writing up stuff about him due to his job/role at New England Conservatory. One of his friends played on an album date with Kenny a few years ago and said it was one of the high points of his career. He also did a master class or two at NEC. Apparently he was as good at them as Dave Holland (whom I saw at NEC a couple of years ago and am still applying what I learned!).

[orangefunk]

Jazz on 3 remembers trumpeter and composer Kenny Wheeler who sadly passed away just over a week ago, aged 84.

 

Originally from Toronto, Kenny Wheeler moved to the UK in his early twenties and over the course of a half-decade became one of the most cherished musicians on the British scene. His trademark composition style and haunting horn sound inspired a generation - making his mark through projects ranging from free improvisation with Anthony Braxton, to Azimuth with John Taylor and Norma Winstone, to his famed big band work and recordings for ECM.

 

John Fordham and Nick Smart join Jez Nelson in the studio to celebrate Kenny Wheeler's life and music, revisiting a number of archive live performances recorded by the BBC over the years. Plus, we hear from many of Wheeler's musical colleagues who join in paying their tributes.

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b04l3xgq

[moj]

Jazz on 3 remembers trumpeter and composer Kenny Wheeler who sadly passed away just over a week ago, aged 84.

 

Originally from Toronto, Kenny Wheeler moved to the UK in his early twenties and over the course of a half-decade became one of the most cherished musicians on the British scene. His trademark composition style and haunting horn sound inspired a generation - making his mark through projects ranging from free improvisation with Anthony Braxton, to Azimuth with John Taylor and Norma Winstone, to his famed big band work and recordings for ECM.

 

John Fordham and Nick Smart join Jez Nelson in the studio to celebrate Kenny Wheeler's life and music, revisiting a number of archive live performances recorded by the BBC over the years. Plus, we hear from many of Wheeler's musical colleagues who join in paying their tributes.

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b04l3xgq

 

Thanks orangefunk. Good interviews and a fitting tribute.