Round-up: Kenny Wheeler in New York

Four trumpets. Left to right: Kenny Wheeler, Ingrid Jensen,
Dave Douglas, Nick Smart

Nick Smart, Trumpeter and Head of Jazz at the Royal Academy of Music, London writes about Kenny Wheeler's triumphant visit to New York earlier this month.

Last week I returned from the four night celebration of Kenny Wheeler by Dave Douglas’ Festival of New Trumpet Music (FONT). This musician-led, artistically progressive organisation had chosen Kenny as the recipient of its "Award of Recognition" at FONT 2011 – the festival’s ninth year.

FONT has an office full of Wheeler fans, who, for some years, have wanted to honour Kenny. In Nov 2010 a plan to do so finally got set in motion over lunch, following a workshop at the Royal Academy Of Music with Dave Douglas. From that moment on, Mark Wheeler (Kenny’s son) and I worked closely with Dave to make sure it all came together without a hitch. This was how I eventually found myself in such esteemed company at the Jazz Standard in New York, watching ten rapturously received gigs over four nights.

I think I am safe to assume a high level of widely felt respect and admiration for Kenny Wheeler’s music, and quite possibly, a sense of pride in the UK that he has chosen to spend his musical life as a Londoner. And an East Londoner at that! But sometimes, when someone great is around and available with reasonable readiness, it can require a little more effort to remember just how great they are. It's not that Kenny has been taken for granted over here - he is hugely championed throughout the jazz scene - but nevertheless, to be in New York and witness the emotional warmth and sheer joy that was expressed by audience upon audience at his presence in the city…. was breathtaking.

People had literally flown in from all over America and Canada to witness this rare appearance, all ten shows were completely packed out with minutes of applause at his first appearance on the stage, and often standing ovations to end.

For the famously self-deprecating Kenny, this was an awful lot of attention to soak up! Not to mention, with the great and the good of the New York trumpet community either on the stage or in the audience, a lot of pressure to live up to for a man approaching 82. So if ever there was an occasion for him to pull out some of the most assured performances of the last 10 years, musically and technically, this was it. And that is exactly what he did. Night after night and in every single show, he demonstrated exactly why this enormous honour was being bestowed upon him. He played the most captivating ‘free’ introductions to tunes, showed some beautifully inventive changesplaying and his idiosyncratic soaring intervals were more fluent and secure than ever. It was truly enough to make a UK jazz musician very proud of the fact he is "ours"; something the jazz community over in NY were openly envious of.

Thursday. Dave Douglas had conceived a beautiful mix of ensembles and tributes for the festival. The phenomenal trumpeter and long-time Wheeler fan, Ingrid Jensen, had put together a brass quintet with rhythm-section for the first night. She was joined by trumpeters Tony Kadleck and Jonathan Finlayson as well as Norwich lad turned Lincoln Center superstar, trombonist Elliot Mason. Ingrid had both arranged Kenny’s music and composed music in tribute to him, and there was also a special guest appearance from her sister, saxophonist Christine Jensen who had written a fantastic piece for the occasion. The personal highlight for me was sitting in with Ingrid and Kenny, along with Dave Douglas, to play Kenny’s arrangement for four trumpets of "How Deep is the Ocean".

Friday/Saturday. John Hollenbeck ’s Large Ensemble featured some incredible guest soloists, from the FONT side were the trumpeters Shane Endsley and Nate Wooley, but also saxophonist Chris Cheek and guitarist Brad Shepik, in fact the whole group was full of wonderful musicians. The band played some of Kenny’s big band pieces before he joined them on stage; "Sea Lady", "Foxy Trot", "Kayak" and "Gentle Piece", plus a characteristically brilliant composition/arrangement John Hollenbeck had done which incorporated the different elements of "Heyoke" before segueing into Kenny’s own arrangement of the piece. I also played in the band on the KW charts as they are for five trumpets. When Kenny himself took to the stage they played a highlight from "Sweet Time Suite" and some of the new 80th Birthday pieces from the recent tour over here in the UK (also recorded for an album due in early 2012).


Saturday. In the afternoon Dave Douglas and I led a workshop on Kenny’s music at New York University. Again there was great attendance from a whole new generation of Wheeler devotees, not only from NYU, but from all the major music schools and jazz departments in the city. It was a pleasure for me to teach with Dave of course, and we had an enlightening session playing through the charts and discussing the music. Kenny joined us half way through and played his classic "Everybody’s Song" along with Dave and me, and he was very open about his working processes to all the students who asked questions.

Kenny Wheeler, Dave Douglas and Nick Smart at the NYU workshop

Sunday evening culminated in a quintet that saw Kenny reunited with his old friend Dave Holland, along with pianist Craig Taborn, saxophonist and quite regular partner to Kenny in the last two years, Jon Irabagon, and the drummer Rudy Royston. This group was astonishing, and again, Kenny more than led from the front. Dave Holland took the announcement duties and mentioned Kenny’s own quote about himself "I don’t say much, but when I do…. I don’t say much." After the final tune Kenny uncharacteristically reached for the microphone and thanked the band, "they’re almost as good as I thought they were" he said, before adding about himself, "I recently won a poll; old players deserving less recognition!"

Left to right: Craig Taborn, Kenny Wheeler, Dave Holland

I feel privileged to have played some part in helping this festival to happen, and to have been present at it. Dave Douglas himself was incredibly impressive in his organising of the event; he personally looked after Kenny throughout the preparations, right up to meeting us at the airport! The tireless work he put in- along with the team at FONT and the wonderful Ingrid Jensen and John Hollenbeck – to make this happen for Kenny Wheeler, resulted in an occasion that those present will always remember.

Which reminds me of another very un-Kenny like grabbing of the microphone after the last Hollenbeck set: "I’d like to thank the band for playing my music so well, I’ll never forget it…. not for a few days anyway!"


Reports of FONT 2011  from the press and internet:

- A New York Times review

- From Dave Douglas’ website – some nice pictures and an interview with Dave

- From the FONT website – the full line-up and an interview with Nick Smart

- A post on Peter Hum's Ottawa Citizen blog

- Helen Mayhew’s report on our own Jazz FM

Dave Douglas will be at the Royal Academy of Music as "International Artist in Residence" for one week in January 2012.

There is a public masterclass on Wednesday 25th Jan at 6.00pm and a Gala concert on Thursday 26th Jan at 7.30 – both in the Dukes Hall.

Round-Up: Georgia Mancio's ReVoice! Festival

Georgia Mancio (photo by Brian O'Connor)

ReVoice! Festival
(Pizza Express, Dean Street. Thursday 6th to Friday 14th October. Round-up by Zena James.)

All credit once again to popular vocalist and innovator Georgia Mancio for achieving sell-outs and a genuine sense of international teamwork throughout her second annual (we hope) ReVoice! festival at Pizza Express Dean St earlier this month.

Norma Winstone and Klaus Gesing (photo by Dave Ohm)

Following the rousing opening night featuring a true first, a striking duet between Georgia and electric bassist and composer, Laurence Cottle and sealed with the ever-flawless, inventive and much-loved doyenne Norma Winstone, came one of the hippest highlights of this nine-day, 37-artist celebration. Gregory Porter, the hugely engaging baritone jazz singer fast making a name for his intense originals, chose against the odds to treat his audience to the full-on energetic soul of a pure Motown opener, Way to Harlem. You can’t find it on I-Tunes yet but the song is already on the list for his planned second release in 2012, featuring mix of swing, soul, R&B, gospel and “a lot about love, family and life”.

But pure jazz lovers didn’t have long to wait. Already well-served by Georgia’s nimble opening jazz set with pianist Nikki Iles, Porter’s audience relished a rich-toned compelling Skylark, one of the best versions I’ve heard. Wayne Shorter’s Black Nile from Porter’s current much-acclaimed album Water brought his raw energy to the fore as he almost physically propelled an already incredibly powerful rhythm section of Geoff Gascoyne, Grant Windsor and Dave Ohm. Outstanding full-pelt solos from saxophonist Ben Castle and trumpeter Graeme Flowers made this an exhilarating start to a set that never faltered.

Gregory Porter (photo by Brian O'Connor)

Irresistible tones of 70’s and 80’s pop-soul singers were present throughout and easily as prominent as the smooth Nat King Cole sound he is so frequently credited with.

The highlight was Be Good, a beautifully written and perfectly delivered ballad about “a woman who broke my heart”, the title track of his next album. It was upstaged only by his magical signature tune Illusion and the high-energy political soul anthem single, 1960 What? A great start to the weekend.

Sachal Vasandani (photo by Cat Munro)

And the treats kept coming. Following a scat-collaboration and whistle –off on Sunday between Georgia and guitarist Jim Mullen, the American vocalist Sachal Vasandani, a mentee of Jon Hendricks, played an almost continuous sophisticated and slick set for an entire hour without pause.

Kenny Wheeler, John Taylor and Diana Torto (photo by Dave Ohm)

Monday saw Italy's newest diva, Diana Torto, who fronted trumpet legend Kenny Wheeler's new and remarkable Something Else quartet for two popular nights. This was one of Georgia’s personal favourites, as well as a tearjerker, in her own duo set, of a piano solo on In My Life by James Pearson, which she admits would have rendered her soundless has she not been on stage with him…

Barbara Raimondi & Roberto Taufic (photo by Dave Ohm)

Wednesday’s magic was Contigo en la Distancia led by Italian vocalist, Barbara Raimondi, with Brazilian guitarist, Roberto Taufic, and UK-based Italian percussionist and drummer, Enzo Zirilli. Their musical painting of Latin America showcased Raimondi's wonderful sense of rhythm and passionate delivery.

Brian Hanlon (photo by Dave Ohm)

Georgia and monthly Dean St bassist Michael Janisch brought subtlety and gentleness to Thursday’s audience, which gave way to a dynamic groove-laden set again featuring Janisch alongside sax maestro Nigel Hitchcock, exciting young pianist Ross Stanley and led by Irish-American singer/guitarist Brian Hanlon.

The week closed with a double bill of sheer class as Georgia and Ian Shaw opened the show with easily their most impressive and entertaining collaboration to date. Highlights were a moving Alone Again Naturally (Gilbert O' Sullivan), an outstanding vocally dexterous multi-tempo/multi-feel Willow Weep For Me and a rousing bi-lingual treatment of a favourite of these longstanding friends and collaborators, Bowie’s Life on Mars.

David Linx (photo by Dave Ohm)

And so to the very eagerly anticipated Belgian singer and composer David Linx, with his award-winning Dutch pianist and collaborator of 20 years, Diederik Wissils. Steeped in classical influence and with incredible agility, this was a bold presentation of 8 originals, from dark, almost sinister ballads to high-speed percussive scat-fests reminiscent of Bobby McFerrin. Always commanding and very physically expressive, yet locked reflectively inside the melody and lyrics, he is at once both showman and introvert, quirkily original and somehow quite incomparable. The touching Proper Shelter, featuring Wissels extraordinary classical talents and the closing I’m Going Home were notable high points; yet judging by the reaction at Dean St, it won’t be long before he’s invited back to the UK…perhaps by Georgia….

Review: Dankworth tribute plus Whitehead/ Wheeler

"Tribute to John Dankworth and the Big Band"

Photo credit: Roger Thomas

"A Tribute to John Dankworth and the Big Band" / Tim Whitehead and Kenny Wheeler
(Queen Elizabeth Hall, part of "Best of British Jazz" sequence.  And Purcell Room, both concerts Southbank Centre 25th July 2011)

Is there something surreal about the South Bank Centre, or is it just me? It hires its space out to commercial/retail tenants,  runs a car parking operation in a prime site in central London, and yet it is in its totality a registered charity, and pays a rent of just one peppercorn per annum to its landlord, the Arts Council.  It has a "Development Department" which laughably fails to cover even its own operating costs. And it puts on very few jazz gigs. In August its three stages will put on virtually no performance events at all. And yet this Monday it managed to produce a scheduling clash, with two very high quality and significant jazz gigs -  both supported by landlord Arts Council England -  pitted against each other.

The two concerts were a major retrospective entitled "A Tribute to John Dankworth and the Big Band" in the Queen Elizabeth Hall, running at exactly the same time that one of the major creative talents of our time, Kenny Wheeler, was making his first apearance as guest with Tim Whitehead 's "Colour Beginnings" project.

One commentator was apoplectic and went on Twitter: “Privileged few at @southbankcentre got to marvel at Tim Whitehead's Turner tribute. Was next door to a *best of British Jazz* event......so why didn't @southbankcentre think Tim Whitehead & Kenny Wheeler were *best*? Pah! #inexplicablemarketinggaffes”

Not wanting to miss either completely, I attended the first half of the Dankworth show, and the second half of the Whitehead/ Wheeler gig.

"A Tribute to John Dankworth and the Big Band"

There's always a guiding spirit of gentle mischievous good humour hovering over gigs involving the Dankworth family. The first musical sound from the stage was Andy Panayi checking the reed his clarinet with the theme from Hancock's Half Hour.

The idea behind the programme was to go back and tell some of the Dankworth story through performing pieces from different eras. The opener was one of the movements from “World Jazz Suite” (did all twelve ever get finished?).

This was a stunningly good big band. Just about every player in it is a bandleader in his or her own right. You'd go a long way to hear a better sax section : Tim Garland, Jamie Talbot, Andy Panayi, Julian Siegel and Karen Sharp. Dankworth writes punishingly for saxes. The trumpets made the most of his typically bright sound he requires. They were on form, if not ideally balanced, from my seat.

The big band then gave way to one of the key groups, the Dankworth Seven. Two of its original members – Tony Kinsey (his drum chair occupied by the impeccable Ian Thomas - and Eddie Harvey – represented by Mark Nightingale on trombone - were in the audience. Musically Alec Dankworth was in charge, standards were high.

Alec Dankworth
Photo credit: Roger Thomas

There were surprises (for me), notably how readily Tim Garland was able to roll back the clock and play pure 1950's tenor. And high points: a hushed decelerando ending to Ellington's Mood Indigo featuring Henry Lowther wonderfully mellifluous on trumpet. The applause from the end of that number was starting to wane when the it startedto grow again, suddenly and more insistently, as Dame Cleo Laine made a particularly well-timed entrance.

Cleo Laine introduced Frank Holder with great affection, and he launched gleefully into “Too Marvellous for Words.” Holder's bounce, energy, capacity to swing hard, talent as a powerful “conguero,” and above all sheer presence and energy are something astonishing. He was born in Guyana. It is known that he joined the Dankworth Seven in 1952 (!), so he must be in his early to mid eighties. He is astonishing.

Other highlights were a call-and-response chorus from Cleo Laine and Andy Panayi on the Ahlert/ Young 1935 standard I'm Gonna Sit Right Down and Write Myself a Letter (lots of “shooby-doobies” as Laine calls them), and a typically unusual Dankworth instrumental trope stretching the sound palette of the big band on African Waltz: piccolo, vibes, congas and tuba.

But the abiding memory is of a mood, not exactly of nostalgia, nor of pure partying, but a particular atmosphere in which both the talent – there in abundance on stage - , and the going-for-it are encouraged, nurtured and valued.

Tim Whitehead's “Colour Beginnings Quartet with guest Kenny Wheeler 

Tim Whitehead's artistic responses to Turner are personal,  often paradoxical, always deply thought. Some of the heavier grooves come in (surprising) response to pictures where Turner has hardly alowed the paint and water to come into contact with the paper. Whitehead intersperses the pieces with a wide range of different perspectives on Turner's life and work from art critics and contemporaries. Some of the numbers involve him singing - wordlessly -  rather than  playing. But there is a strong and thought-through aesthetic in what Tim Whitehead is doing. He has dwelt on, thought, lived through the whole creative process of absorbing a cloudscape with the eyyes and mind, and then of painting. There is a high degree of  integrity and authenticity about the whole venture.  For example, a sudden unison passage for the whole band,  an upward flurry, brought sudden urgency at the end of  “Skies Sketchbook 1810s page 3.”

(The image is HERE. I spoke to the Tate Gallery, who won't allow it to be reproduced)

What stays in the mind above all from this gig is how innately Kenny Wheeler goes with, understands, responds to Tim Whitehead's very individual response. Wheeler's discourse is often about unpredictable intervals giving unusual perspectives on a line. Inthe context of Tim Whitehead's group, he just catches the updraft, and goes higher.      

Two very different concerts demonstrating, as ever, the sheer range and vitality of British Jazz

"A Tribute to John Dankworth and the Big Band" was produced by Serious as part of the Southbank Centre's Great British Jazz series. http://www.southbankcentre.co.uk/

A profile of Kenny Wheeler, briefly back in Canada

A super profile of Kenny Wheeler out this morning from Canadian journalist and blogger Peter Hum, raising the curtain for Wheeler's appearance tomorrow night in Ottawa. The piece shows the affection in which he is held among Canadian musicians,  andt he extent of his influence. Wheeler explains his reasons for leaving Canada in the 50's, why he settled in the UK, and describes his composing method... in typically modest terms. There is also mention of a forthcoming big band album.....

This perspective from abroad helps to bring things into context: one of the most eminent composers in the world lives here, among us, in Leytonstone, close to the 2012 Olympic stadium. His compositions - which continue apace in his 82nd year - will prove as durable as eighty million quid's worth of Olympic cultural activity. Discuss.

UPDATE: Here's a review of the concert

CD/ DVD Review: John Surman - Flashpoint

John Surman - Flashpoint
(Cuneiform Rune 315.CD/DVD review by Chris Parker)

Those curious to know the reason for the recent resurgence of interest in British jazz of the 1960s and 1970s need look no further than this 1969 NDR Jazz Workshop session, led by soprano/baritone player John Surman and featuring saxophonists Alan Skidmore, Ronnie Scott and Mike Osborne, trumpeter Kenny Wheeler and trombonist Malcolm Griffiths, plus guests Fritz Pauer (piano) and trombonist Erich Kleinschuster.

Five pieces, three by Surman himself, the others by his Austrian guests, are solidly but energetically propelled by bassist Harry Miller and drummer Alan Jackson, and their frequently churning power (Jackson and Miller discernibly influenced by the day's Rolls-Royce rhythm section, Elvin Jones and Jimmy Garrison) provides the perfect platform for a series of steaming solos from the saxophonists (Mike Osborne in particular demonstrating just why he was so sorely missed on the UK scene from the 1980s onwards), and a gem of a solo from Wheeler ('Once Upon a Time'), its poise, elegance and fluency rendering it worth the admission price alone.

Also of great interest is the influence of free jazz on the proceedings, Griffiths in particular bringing a blustering vigour to the session, and the entire band occasionally indulging in brawling free-for-alls that complement the more structured playing perfectly.

The session was filmed as well as recorded, so Surman et al. can be seen playing and discussing the music on a DVD accompanying the CD; this is thus not just a rousingly enjoyable session led by one of UK jazz's most influential figures, but also an important (and fascinating) historical document.

Cuneiform Records

(New) Royal Academy of Music "Kenny Wheeler Prize"

Back in January 2010, Kenny Wheeler's 80th birthday was celebrated with a concert at the Royal Academy of Music. Dave Holland flew over for it. "Music for Large and Small Ensembles" (above- recommended would be an understatement, it's a classic) was performed at it. Frank Griffith reviewed it for us. And some money was raised for a new annual prize.

The ‘Kenny Wheeler Jazz Prize’ will be awarded to a musician graduating from the Royal Academy who can demonstrate: "excellence in both performance and composition."

A panel consisting of Evan Parker, the Academy’s Head of Jazz Nick Smart and Dave Stapleton of Editon Records.

Edition Records will be releasing the winner's debut album.

The prize has some features of the Thelonious Monk Prize in the USA - they collaborate with Concord Records.

Kenny Wheeler has written:

“I have always felt strongly about supporting the next generation of young jazz musicians and it gives me great pleasure to set up this prize in my name. My friends and colleagues at the Academy have been producing such amazing players in recent years that I am sure the winner of the prize will go on to make their mark in the jazz world, and who knows, I might even get to play with them myself!”

The winner will be announced on 30th June 2011; expect an album release in spring 2012.

Review: Duncan Lamont 80th Birthday Celebration

Duncan Lamont 80th Birthday Celebration
(Leicester Square Theatre, part of Art of Song Festival, 15th April 2011, review by Frank Griffith. Photo credit: Roger Thomas )

Duncan Lamont is a rare bird. A jazz tenor sax player who writes lyrics. Good ones. His songs accomplish that elusive target of a happy marriage between music and lyrics. His lyrics are often in homage to great American song titles and places. He follows in the tradition set by Kern, Gershwin, Ellington, Mandel, Dearie and Bricusse,et al.

His role at this concert - in the inaugural Art of Song Festival - was a wide-ranging one: narrator, introducer, general cheerleader, and celebrant of his own birthday (actual date 4th July). The nineteen songs, performed by three of the UK's finest, Tina May, Lee Gibson and Norma Winstone, were the true stars of the show. There were some suites, of sorts, in the way of a New York Medley (four songs at the outset) and an equally charming triptych of Kenny Wheeler songs with lyrics by his longtime collaborant and friend, Duncan.

Lee Gibson was first out of the blocks, tall and elegant, bedecked in a glitteringly dark long gown. Her somewhat veiled and smoky voice is offset by her ability to dramatize and excite. Her rendition of "52nd Street" (NYC's famed Bebop 1940s locale) was delivered with a cultured ease and understatement - she knows precisely how to put an audience at its ease.


Next up was Tina May (bove), also fully gowned up with a streak of glitter highlighting a bold yet subtle bracelet on her left wrist which shone and resonated throughout the large theatre much like her mane of beautiful blonde hair that only helped to set the scene for her equally stunning singing to follow. Her treatments of "Where were you in April" and "Hymm for Jobim" were a testament to unfettered poise and poetry with her honeyed voice and crafting.




Longtime collaborator of Duncan's, the eminent Norma Winstone, sporting a springlike melange of reds and yellows in the form of a dress adjoined by a welcome bright red jumper wooed the audience with her tender readings of three Kenny Wheeler songs lyricised by Duncan. She was joined by the great composer himself, who while needing assistance alighting and dismounting the stage proved the point that "Doctor Footlights" has amazing powers as, once the flugelhorn touched his lips, beautiful, healthy and impassioned music poured forth. Wheeler's songs brought about a nice compositional change of seasons with their harmonic richness and searching melodicism wedded with Lamont's words.




Vocalist David McAlmont lent the evening a distinctive contrast with his reading of "The darker side of the rainbow" - dedicated to Judy Garland - showing off his shining falsetto voice. Not to be outdone in the fashion stakes either, his tempered brown suit also included a hint of glitter (red tie in this case) and went well with his poised, touching and simply brilliant delivery of this haunting song. Resembling what could have been a young Billy Strayhorn, this was clearly a high point of the evening with echoes of 1950s New York or Paris cafe society culture.

Many plaudits to the trio led by pianist, Brian Dee, an ideal accompanist with his lyrical and understated manner. His ability to guide the singers through these challenging songs while keeping a steady and comforting eye on his rhythm boys poses the question- who says men can't multitask?


Bassist to the stars, Chris Laurence, has played with nearly everybody and as his performance demonstrated, no surprise there. His accompanying is full of a dancing melodicism that never overextends or interferes but in fact colours the backdrop in his unique and flavoursome fashion. This is equally balanced with solid time and and his role as chief executive of all things in the "nether regions" (basso profundo) of the ensemble.

The ebullience and professionalism of veteran drummer, Les Cirkel is always evident when he takes the throne. "Driving the bus" as they say, at an even keel while goading and sparking soloists throughout providing a necessary pinch of drama and excitement.




Duncan Lamont already had his hands full with compering, etc, so his melodic and sometimes quirky tenor sax solos were a tremendous bonus. He is a true Rennasaince Man- tenorist, composer, lyricist and imminent octogenarian. Long may he, his singers and music thrive. And may the Art of Song Festival - imaginatively programmed by Joe Paice and Dave Shepherd - return stronger in years to come.

Tina May has an upcoming CD with the Frank Griffith Big Band on the HEPJAZZ label entitled "Holland Park Non Stop".