Jazz Articles about Kenny Wheeler

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Kenny Wheeler: It Takes Two!

by Karl A.D. Evangelista
August 2, 2006

Kenny Wheeler's music may be likened to a waking dream--the cool, ethereal alternative to the incendiary abandon of his peers. There is a strange dichotomy between the wooly, often weird trumpeter who participated in the salad days of European free improvisation and the man who cut It Takes Two!, the veritable embodiment of musical restraint. Much of Wheeler's solo work seems a world away from the bustling sounds of '70s London, favoring a light, airy romanticism and eschewing the strident ...

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Kenny Wheeler: It Takes Two!

by Paul Olson
August 1, 2006

Two guitarists, that is. While Kenny Wheeler has recorded with John Abercrombie and John Parricelli before, he hasn't done so on the same session. Until now, anyway: It Takes Two! matches the veteran trumpeter with the two guitarists and acoustic bassist Anders Jormin. The results are spacious, calm, and at times broodingly pensive.Parricelli and Abercrombie combine in various formations of electric, nylon and acoustic guitars; with Jormin, they create precisely interwoven sonic fabrics that provide a near-perfect setting ...

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Kenny Wheeler: It Takes Two!

by John Kelman
July 29, 2006

Kenny Wheeler's career has been almost singularly defined by its unpredictability, but It Takes Two! may be the trumpeter's biggest surprise yet. No stranger to unorthodox combinations, a two-guitar/bass lineup allows Wheeler's compositions to head in some unexpected directions. The material bears the melancholy lyricism that's been an unmistakable signature of his career. But It Takes Two! also features two uncharacteristically abstract and angular free improvisations. It also possesses, at times, a hint of the gentle Mediterranean breeze that Wheeler ...

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Kenny Wheeler

by Peter Madsen
May 30, 2006

For years I've admired the great Canadian musician Kenny Wheeler because of his fantastic compositions and arrangements, his incredible sound on both the trumpet and flugelhorn, his superb recordings as well as his wide open artistic vision. Last week I went to a big-band concert that featured Kenny as the guest performer and composer. At 70+ years of age Kenny still has the ability to amaze both as a player as well as composer. He sounds as fresh as any ...

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Kenny Wheeler: Song For Someone / What Now? / Where Do We Go From Here?

by Francis Lo Kee
February 8, 2006

These three CDs by trumpeter Kenny Wheeler provide a glimpse of one of this planet's greatest musicians; all also feature the under-appreciated pianist John Taylor.

Kenny Wheeler Song for Someone Psi 2004

Certainly Song for Someone will be an exciting find for Wheeler enthusiasts. A big band record that has a unique sound from the opening moments (with Norma Winstone's wordless vocals in front) only becomes more intriguing as it ...

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Kenny Wheeler: What Now?

by Jim Santella
May 31, 2005

In this program of his own compositions, trumpeter Kenny Wheeler teams up with saxophonist Chris Potter to drive jazz's modern mainstream. Together with pianist John Taylor and bassist Dave Holland, they explore paths that need to be followed, but yet allow for complete freedom. Wheeler's themes are lyrical, allowing the quartet to simmer gently with lush harmony and flowing melodic threads. Around each melody, the foursome weaves an intricate design of spontaneous lines that move cohesively in a mellow affair.

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Kenny Wheeler: What Now?

by John Kelman
May 12, 2005

When trumpeter Kenny Wheeler and pianist John Taylor toured Canadian festivals in the summer of '03, the clear high point was their performance at the Montreal Jazz Festival, where they were joined by bassist Dave Holland and saxophonist Chris Potter. Wheeler and Taylor go back many years, working together in a variety of contexts since the '70s. They've also worked with Holland over the years, most notably on Wheeler's ECM recordings The Widow in the Window, Music for Large & ...