This music speaks for itself, and the loss of Kenny Wheeler is so sad. I heard this record when I was 13 years old. No other recording I possess have I played as much over the last 38 years, and even today I play it very regularly. Kenny Wheeler, above all other jazz musicians of his age, was a storyteller in sonic form, forming incredibly engaging narratives with an orators power for engagement, aside, suspense and revelation. I think that is how he brings such fine work out in others, including Jarrett. He told me a story once that I hear whenever I listen to this track, imagining him on location -. Kenny was a native of St Catherines, Niagara, and his shy demeanor was with him as a boy. To practice with freedom and ease back then, he used to row out onto Lake Ontario and sit in his small boat, alone, playing solos, practicing for his lessons and making tunes. Out there he could be himself. His recordings are full of references to these moments, even sometimes with boat names. Hed sometimes listen to Lester Young or Ben Webster on a radio in the boat, and that knowledge and ease of working with a plurality of traditions, acquired when young, was his unique hallmark as a performer and improviser when he came to Europe. I interviewed him on three occasions in the last twenty years, and met him at gigs on other occasions. A charming and self-effacing man who gave so much to my life with his music. My sympathies to his wife and children at this time. A bigger reflection to follow. youtu.be/myKkvyOxYXA
Posted on: Fri, 19 Sep 2014 17:13:38 +0000
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