Kenny Wollesen

Biography
Articles

Drummer Kenny Wolleson performed on over 30 recordings during the 1990s and, as the decade progressed, gained increasing renown as a musician of astonishing versatility, skill, and ingenuity. He has recorded and toured with all kinds of musicians, from Tom Waits (Wolleson performs on Waits' 1993 collaboration with William S. Burroughs, Black Rider), to Sean Lennon, to Ron Sexsmith (Wolleson performs on his second album, Other Songs).

A founding member of the New Klezmer Trio, Wollesen is also all over N.Y.C.'s downtown jazz and avant-garde musicians' recordings, and has been so active as to tour with Bill Frisell and Myra Melford in the same month. �" Joslyn Layne Source: All Music Guide

Pitch, Rhythm and Consciousness: Sextet

Read "Sextet" reviewed by Alberto Bazzurro

by Alberto Bazzurro
May 7, 2025

Dopo un primo album in trio (2011) e un secondo in quartetto (2019), Pitch, Rhythm and Consciousness, il gruppo fondato da Tony Jones e Charlie Burnham (qui impegnato nei primi due brani anche alla voce) si amplia a sestetto per questo suo nuovo lavoro (inciso alla fine del 2023), evidenziando specificità di organico (e quindi timbriche e nel contempo dinamiche) assolutamente nuove, raddoppiando anzitutto i sassofoni tenore, che non disdegnano cavalcate a due voci di sicuro appeal (anche senza accompagnamento ...

Album Review

Pitch, Rhythm and Consciousness: Sextet

Read "Sextet" reviewed by Thierry De Clemensat

by Thierry De Clemensat
April 22, 2025

Pitch, Rhythm and Consciousness is a collective of musicians who stand among the most representative of the New York jazz scene in 2025. Initially formed as a quartet, the group was founded by Tony Jones and Charlie Burnham, two of the most captivating artists of the ensemble, who are later joined by Kenny Wollesen, Marika Hughes, Jessica Jones and Rashaan Carter. Given the group's initial configuration, it is evident that their music and compositions are not meant for ...

Album Review

Kenny Wollesen: LATRALA

Read "LATRALA" reviewed by Glenn Astarita

by Glenn Astarita
August 29, 2024

When a February 2022 gig at John Zorn's experimental showcase The Stone was unexpectedly canceled due to Covid protocol, Wollesen seized the lemon juicer and booked the band into Shahzad Ismaily's famed Figure 8 studio in Brooklyn for the following two days. The session was engineered by Lily Wen and produced by Will Shore, a composer who plays vibes alongside Wollesen in the utopian art-jazz group Užupis. Playing together for the first time, LATRALA recorded nearly the entire album and ...

Album Review

Welf Dorr, Elias Meister, Dmitry Ishenko, Kenny Wollesen: So Far So Good

Read "So Far So Good" reviewed by Glenn Astarita

by Glenn Astarita
July 26, 2024

Germany-reared saxophonist Welf Dorr has been a fixture in the New York City avant-garde jazz scene since 1995 and brings his distinctive blend of experimental and free jazz to life with this album. Dorr has been a relentless innovator, merging elements of blues, jazz and rock into his compositions. As leader of his group, Welf Dorr Unit, he has consistently pushed the boundaries of modern jazz. With So Far So Good, he continues this tradition, delivering a collection that is ...

Album Review

Sylvie Courvoisier: Chimaera

by John Sharpe
April 3, 2024

Even though pianist Sylvie Courvoisier has bassist Drew Gress and drummer Kenny Wollesen on hand for Chimaera, the six-piece band is a long way from being merely the storied threesome, which made Double Windsor (Tzadik, 2014), D'Agala (Intakt, 2018) and Free Hoops (Intakt, 2020), plus added guests. As she explains in the liners, the music was originally commissioned for the 2021 Sons d'Hiver festival in Paris and was inspired by the surreal works of French Symbolist artist ...

Album Review

Sylvie Courvoisier: Chimaera

Read "Chimaera" reviewed by Troy Dostert

by Troy Dostert
December 5, 2023

It says something about pianist Sylvie Courvoisier's current profile in creative jazz that she could assemble such a distinguished ensemble for her latest release, Chimaera. Augmenting her usual trio of bassist Drew Gress and drummer Kenny Wollesen are trumpeters Wadada Leo Smith and Nate Wooley, and with the always interesting Christian Fennesz completing the group on guitar and electronics, one would expect extraordinary results. And so they are--worthy of a lengthy, two-CD treatment, in fact. Courvoisier's work with ...

Album Review

John Zorn: Gnosis: The Inner Light

Read "Gnosis: The Inner Light" reviewed by Nenad Georgievski

by Nenad Georgievski
June 19, 2023

John Zorn's album Gnosis: The Inner Light serves as a poignant memorial and homage to the creative genius of one of modern music's most visionary composers, Ennio Morricone, who played a vital role in shaping Zorn's musical path. Decades ago, Zorn captivated audiences with The Big Gundown (Nonesuch, 1986), a groundbreaking release that boldly reimagined Morricone's compositions. Now, with Gnosis: The Inner Light, Zorn once again pays tribute to the maestro's enduring influence, delving into mystical realms and creating a ...