KENNY WHEELER – Songs For Quintet
ECM 470 4653
Kenny Wheeler (flugelhorn); Stan Sulzmann (tenor saxophone); John Parricelli (guitar); Chris Laurence (double bass); Martin France (drums)
Recorded December 2013
Sadly this is the final recording that we will be graced with from Kenny Wheeler. Recorded in December 2013, Kenny was already suffering ill health, and indeed the sessions that produced this album were the last occasion in which he played with other musicians and he sadly passed away before the album could be released.
For the session Kenny gathered together four if his favourite players at Abbey Road Studios to perform some of his more recent compositions with a few old friends from his illustrious past thrown in for good measure. If illness were to impose physical restraints on Wheeler in playing the flugel, he masks this well and what is never in question is the logic and beauty of his improvisations.
The quintet seems to suite Wheeler’s compositional style well, and even where pairing down ‘The Long Waiting’, originally recorded with a big band, the music sounds as it was written not just for a five piece but specifically for the individual participants heard here.
If Kenny at times sounds fragile, then this is counterbalanced by Sulzmann’s superbly assured and full toned tenor, a perfect foil to the flugelhorn, as with many a great partnership, complimenting and bringing to the fore the beauty of contrast. This is illustrating to great effect on ‘Canter No. 1’ with its rolling bass figure set up by Chris Laurence framing the theme and Kenny’s solo before the rhythm section loosen things up, driving the saxophone solo along only to ease up before a reprise of the bass riff and theme.
It is this movement and life in the compositions that make this album such a delight. With a flexible and fluid rhythm team and the liquid lines from Parricelli there is much to savour. And special mention should go to the guitarist. All too oftern he is too well mannered for his own good, but as the perennial sideman he never fails to deliver in whatever setting he finds himself, often lifting the session with his subtle accompaniment and gently self effacing solos that linger long in the memory.
So, plenty to enjoy, along with a few memory games thrown in. If ‘Old Time’ sounds familiar, then check out your Azimuth discography where you will find that Kenny recorded this piece as ‘How It Was Then’ with Norma Winstone and John Taylor.
Not a backwards glance in this last recording, but a quintet album of real substance and sure to be regarded amongst the very best of Kenny’s recorded legacy.
Reviewed by Nick Lea
ECM 470 4653
Kenny Wheeler (flugelhorn); Stan Sulzmann (tenor saxophone); John Parricelli (guitar); Chris Laurence (double bass); Martin France (drums)
Recorded December 2013
Sadly this is the final recording that we will be graced with from Kenny Wheeler. Recorded in December 2013, Kenny was already suffering ill health, and indeed the sessions that produced this album were the last occasion in which he played with other musicians and he sadly passed away before the album could be released.
For the session Kenny gathered together four if his favourite players at Abbey Road Studios to perform some of his more recent compositions with a few old friends from his illustrious past thrown in for good measure. If illness were to impose physical restraints on Wheeler in playing the flugel, he masks this well and what is never in question is the logic and beauty of his improvisations.
The quintet seems to suite Wheeler’s compositional style well, and even where pairing down ‘The Long Waiting’, originally recorded with a big band, the music sounds as it was written not just for a five piece but specifically for the individual participants heard here.
If Kenny at times sounds fragile, then this is counterbalanced by Sulzmann’s superbly assured and full toned tenor, a perfect foil to the flugelhorn, as with many a great partnership, complimenting and bringing to the fore the beauty of contrast. This is illustrating to great effect on ‘Canter No. 1’ with its rolling bass figure set up by Chris Laurence framing the theme and Kenny’s solo before the rhythm section loosen things up, driving the saxophone solo along only to ease up before a reprise of the bass riff and theme.
It is this movement and life in the compositions that make this album such a delight. With a flexible and fluid rhythm team and the liquid lines from Parricelli there is much to savour. And special mention should go to the guitarist. All too oftern he is too well mannered for his own good, but as the perennial sideman he never fails to deliver in whatever setting he finds himself, often lifting the session with his subtle accompaniment and gently self effacing solos that linger long in the memory.
So, plenty to enjoy, along with a few memory games thrown in. If ‘Old Time’ sounds familiar, then check out your Azimuth discography where you will find that Kenny recorded this piece as ‘How It Was Then’ with Norma Winstone and John Taylor.
Not a backwards glance in this last recording, but a quintet album of real substance and sure to be regarded amongst the very best of Kenny’s recorded legacy.
Reviewed by Nick Lea
