Jack's been thinking about...Three Wishes

Our Friday columnist Jack Davies writes about pianist Tom Taylor's initiative to ask jazz musicians for their THREE WISHES

Between 1961 and 1966 the wonderfully named Pannonica de Koenigswarter (more commonly known as “Nica” of ‘Nica’s Dream’) compiled what was to be come the book “Three Wishes”, later edited by her great-niece and published in France in 2006.

Pannonica had a disarmingly naïve premise: to ask jazz musicians what their “three wishes” would be. The result is insightful and intimate, and a revealing document of the US jazz scene of the early 1960s.

Inspired by this concept, pianist Tom Taylor has embarked on a 21st-century version, focussed initially on the London jazz scene. Fittingly for this modern update, Tom is using a blog format – updating it each time he gets a response from one of his wish-makers.

Tom is one of the most broadly grounded musicians I know, and one of my favourite young UK pianists. He was originally classically trained, before later studying with Liam Noble, and this has given his playing a constant sense of structure and shape. His playing is always interesting, engaging and unpredictable.

Tom states his aim in starting the blog: “I thought that it would be interesting to do a modern version, in blog form, for our generation of jazz musicians. To see how different or similar the wishes of a 21st century jazz musician are, as well as to capture some element of the personality of what is such an exciting scene.”

So far, Tom has had responses from saxophonist Martin Speake, pianist Liam Noble and trumpeter Nick Smart (whose wishes include that more Pandas would fancy each other!). He has also opened the floor, inviting responses from jazz musicians of all ages. Tom’s adoption of Pannonica’s innocent approach has already coaxed out touchingly honest answers. It will be very interesting to watch this project unfold.

Tom Taylor's “3 Wishes” blog

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.

Jack's been thinking.....

Jack Davies

We welcome trumpeter/ bandleader/ composer/ promoter Jack Davies woth the first "Jack's been thinking..." a new, regular Friday comment slot.


There seems to have been a flurry of debate recently about the state of British jazz and what can be done to improve things.

The latest comes from Peter Bacon’s Jazz Breakfast blog, and it has raised a few interesting topics. One comment from Tom Shearer pointed to the Scottish Jazz Federation’s audience research, which explores, amongst other things, the pricing of jazz concerts.

Is £5 too little?

Do cheap ticket prices lead to an under-valuing of the artistic merits of jazz musicians?

According to the Scottish research, those attending jazz for the first time opted for concerts with a high ticket price, suggesting that they were indeed associating cost with quality.

The issue for me (as someone who puts on two fantastic bands every week for a price of a mere £5) is does low ticket price cause serious damage to the public perception of jazz?

The most expensive ticket to the Royal Opera House next weekend comes in at £205, while at Ronnie Scott’s, the priciest London jazz venue, the best seats are £42.50. This must, surely, have some effect on the publicly perceived hierarchy of the two genres.

At Jazz @ the North London Tavern, we have always been clear that what we offer bands is the chance to have complete musical freedom in friendly, and hopefully well attended surroundings, not a large wedge of cash. A lot of our audience members are regulars, and I would worry that audience numbers might suffer if ticket price was raised, and that would remove our whole raison d’être.

However, this issue does trouble me. The last thing these small venues are hoping to do is damage the British jazz scene in any way.

In the meantime, you can catch Head of the Jazz at the Royal Academy, Nick Smart and his Jazz Matanzas band, along with James Gardiner-Bateman ’s sextet this Sunday at the North London Tavern for a measly £5.

Let’s hope the room is full.

Jazz at the NLT is on FacebookThe NLT is at 375 Kilburn High Road, London NW6 7QB, 150 metres from Kilburn Tube Station

Royal Academy Junior Jazz end-of-year gig at Ronnie Scott's

Left to Right: Nick Smart, Gareth Lockrane (Head of the Royal Academy’s Junior Jazz Department),
Mike Walker, Simon Colam

Fran Hardcastle writes...

This fifth annual Royal Academy of Music Junior Jazz end-of-year gig at Ronnie Scott's was the first under new Head of Junior Jazz Gareth Lockrane.  I had the pleasure of dropping to hear the next generation of working jazz musicians, currently starting from the tender age of 13 showcase their impressive talents through music from Mike Walker and Iain Ballamy and well-known standards. The students' impressively assured ensemble performances, coached by Lockrane and Simon Colam showcased a few stars in the making.

Previous Junior Jazz Course graduates have included Kit Downes, Josh Blackmore of Curios, Dave Hamblett, Freddie Gavita and busy bassist Tim Thornton.

The only Junior course which is dedicated solely to jazz has a near 100 per cent success rate in placing students in conservatoire jazz courses. The kids travel from as far as Bristol and Lincolnshire and bursaries and scholarships are available. Visiting musicians have included Joe Lovano and Dave Liebman. The efforts of Lockrane and Colam with the support of former head of the Junior Department, (and now the Royal Academy's  Head of Jazz) Nick Smart resulted in a rewarding gig on Sunday. Keep an eye out for next year’s gig if you’re into star-spotting.

(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.