About
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.
© Chris Laurence
Kenny Wheeler did not like to label, or as he sometimes put it ‘pigeonhole’, music. His music and his playing spanned many genres. He was undoubtedly rooted in jazz while he also loved free improvisation. He occasionally contributed to rock music recordings and was influenced by the world of classical music. He especially loved listening to Paul Hindemith, Igor Stravinsky, Maurice Ravel, Claude Debussy and J.S. Bach. He composed prodigiously throughout his career and was a skilled arranger for small groups and large ensembles. At the time of his passing he was the patron of the Royal Academy Junior Jazz course
Early life
Kenny was born in Toronto, Ontario on 14 January 1930 and began playing cornet at the age of 12. He became interested in jazz in his mid-teens and when he finished high school, he spent around six months studying in Toronto at the Royal Conservatory of Music. There, he took trumpet lessons from Ross McLanathan. In 1952 he moved to Britain and found his way into the London jazz scene, playing in groups led by Tommy Whittle, Tubby Hayes, and Ronnie Scott.
Career
In the late 1950s, he was a member of Buddy Featherstone’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). The band included tenors Stan Robinson, Dick Morrissey and Al Gay, baritone sax Paul Carroll, and fellow trumpets Ian Carr and Greg Bowen. In 1968, he appeared on guitarist Terry Smith’s first solo album, ‘Fall Out’.
In the mid-1960s, he became a participant in the emerging free improvisation movement in London, playing with among others Evan Parker, John Stevens and the Spontaneous Music Ensemble. It was around this time that he also started playing with the multi-national Globe Unity Orchestra.
Kenny played periodically with the United Jazz + Rock Ensemble between 1979 and 1996. He performed and recorded his own compositions with large jazz ensembles throughout his career. The first album under his own name, Windmill Tilter was recorded by the John Dankworth Orchestra in 1969. Although this classic jazz suite was much sought after it proved to be almost impossible to get on vinyl. A CD was, however, released by BGO Records in September 2010. The big band album Song for Someone (1973) fused his characteristic orchestral writing with passages of free improvisation provided by musicians such as Evan Parker and Derek Bailey. It was also named Album of the Year by Melody Maker magazine in 1975. It has subsequently been reissued on CD by Evan Parker’s Psi label.
His first small group recordings gained significant critical praise. Both Gnu High (1975) and Deer Wan (1977), were recorded for the ECM label. Gnu High is one of the few albums to feature Keith Jarrett as a sideman since his time with Charles Lloyd. One exception from the ongoing collaboration with ECM was his rare album on CBC called Ensemble Fusionaire in 1976. The album came to be known as ‘1976’. The four other musicians were also Canadian – Art Ellefson (Tenor), Gary Williamson (Electric Piano) Marty Morell (Drums) and Dave Young (Bass). The album was recorded in St. Mary’s Church, Toronto.
There were a number of important smaller groups that he played in at different times throughout the period 1970 to 2000. He played in John Taylors sextet and, from 1971 to 1976, Anthony Braxton’s Quartet. In the eighties he was, at different times, a member of Dave Holland’s band. He considered his time in all of these groups to be, musically, some of the most enjoyable periods of his career
In 1977 ECM released the first Azimuth album. Whilst Kenny had worked with both John Taylor and Norma Winstone the release of the Album was the beginning of a partnership that would last well into the1990’s. In 1990 ECM released Music For Large & Small Ensembles, again to critical acclaim. His output remained prolific. After the release of Music For Large & Small Ensembles Kenny continued to write, play and record. There were still big band records to come – The Long Waiting and Nineteen Plus One by the The Colours Jazz Orchestra. In addition he continued to record on a regular basis with John Taylor mainly on the CAM Jazz label as well as many other musicians and groups from around the world. His last recording was Songs For Quintet, again released by ECM in 2015.
© Pino Ninfa
Legacy
Kenny Wheeler loved musicians and, other than when he was with his family, he was at his most comfortable in their company. He always saw his fellow musicians as equals. He was lucky to arrive in the UK just as a group of extremely talented younger musicians were maturing. They therefore grew up with his music. It is amazing that he was able to influence not only jazz musicians in the UK but also musicians in Europe, North America and many other countries. His legacy is his music which will always be there for musicians to enjoy playing and for lovers of Jazz to enjoy listening to.