The Reveille Trumpet Collective has announced their second annual Composition Prize. This year’s Prize is for Trumpet and Percussion

Here’s the basics. More info is available HERE

The Grand Prize winner will receive:

• $1500 (CAD)
• At least two performances by members of Reveille during the 2012-13 concert season
• A short video presentation promoting the winning piece
• A contract with new music publisher qPress

If a Runner-Up is chosen, the composer will receive:

• $500 (CAD)
• A contract with new music publisher qPress (At the discretion of the jury, more prizes may be awarded.)

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Villagers and Trumpet: An Evening of Innovative Trumpet Music
Presented by the Village Zendo and the Festival of New Trumpet Music

Nate Wooley and Joe Morris
Aaron Ryuko Shragge and Ben Monder
Nadje Noordhuis and James Shipp

Friday May 4^th, 8 pm
$20 suggested donation, 588 Broadway, suite 1108, NYC
RSVP to signup@villagezendo.org

Aaron Ryuko Shragge & Ben Monder

Eight Years Later by A. Shragge on Vimeo.

“Aaron Shragge…creates a remarkable bond between Oriental and Indian traditions with his own Western musical roots… Monder’s accompaniment style throughout the record is calm, delicate and precise, creating walls of sound that go beyond expectations by creating amazing aural possibilities. The performers contain such a deep connection with each other that they behave as musical counterparts, picking up on each others musical nuances and subtleties.” -Maros Rios, Guitar International

“…defies expectation and avoids guitar-trumpet duet clichés as it delves deeper into that satori place in your brain.” –  Bill Mikowski, Jazz Times

The Duo will be performing a new piece composed especially for this occasion by notable composer Mikael Karrlson. His description of the new piece is as follows: “The piece I am writing for Aaron rests in the idioms that appeal to me the most – folk music and new music. I am a sucker for a nice melody, and one that connects with what a human voice usually is able to encompass. The dragon mouth trumpet seems, to me, to be an instrument that lends itself the best to soulful and semi-slow playing. Aaron’s beautiful performances usually dwell on embellishing the line and on a focus on the moment. My piece for him is part of my “mysterious” voice if there is such a thing. A voice of story-telling and of the fantastical. It’s a calm lament with an optional guitar part that takes on the role of improviser partner or basso continuo but in a rather high register. The melody obviously lives in a harmonic context, but instead of working with Bach-style separating of registers for additional voices, I let the optional co-performer give very light suggestions on the harmonies as specified by me.” Mikael Karrlson

About Mikael Karrlson: Mikael was born in Sweden in 1975, and moved to New York in 2000 after abandoning a stalled career in liquor retail. Mikael holds a masters degree in composition from the Aaron Copland School of Music and graduated Summa Cum Laude with departmental honors in June of 2005.He has received numerous awards for his compositions and his music has been performed at Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, Cathedral of St. John the Divine, Galapagos Art Space amog many others. In 2007, he was an honoree of the 2007 OUT100 top 100 influential people, listed as that year’s composer. In 2011, the listeners of Q2 radio (NY public radio) voted Mikael as one of their favorite 100 composers under 40.

Nate Wooley & Joe Morris

We could expect such a natural gathering between the two innovators of their respective instruments, both devoted to the “expansion of technique and aesthetics”, as Joe Morris puts it on his liner notes – one redefining the use of the electric guitar in jazz, going back to a fingerpicking approach to open a new path, and the other taking the trumpet beyond its lexical and even physical limits, exploring the most basic of all performative factors, like breath, use of spit, and tongue positioning. This kind of association indicates us, from the start, that we’re going to testify something very special, a journey of puzzling discoveries, mutual challenges, brilliant spontaneous solutions, dynamic interchange, and close interaction. If the free-form, avant jazz tendencies had only one guitar hero in its golden years, Sonny Sharrock, Morris is the most representative player of the instrument in these present days, renewing the language and the procedures but staying faithful to what Braxton calls the “African-American continuum”. Like Axel Dorner in Europe, Wooley can be one of the most radical and revolutionary of the new generation of trumpeters, but his roots are in the jazz tradition coming from Louis Armstrong.

by Clean Feed Records

Nadje Noordhuis & James Shipp

The FONT concert at Village Zendo marks the first duo collaboration between vibraphonist/percussionist James Shipp and trumpeter/composer Nadje Noordhuis. Having worked together on Nadje’s self-titled debut album (released on Little Mystery Records in late 2012), they are sure to bring a sense of fun and adventure, as well as beautiful and melodic elements to their music.

Nadje Noordhuis was one of ten semi-finalists in 2007 for the prestigious Thelonious Monk Jazz Trumpet Competition, where her performance was described as “recalling the great Rafael Mendez’s programming and technique” – Jim Santella, New York City Jazz Record. In 2010, Nadje was selected for a week-long residency as a Carnegie Hall Young Artist, working intensely with trumpeter/composer Dave Douglas. Recognized for her cinematic compositions, Nadje’s unique musical style has led to many innovative collaborations with musicians, artists and film-makers. She was the commissioned artist for the 2009 Festival of New Trumpet (FONT), where she presented a concert that blended jazz, classical and world music. One of her compositions is the title track of pianist Luke Howard’s acclaimed CD, Open Road. Nadje recently performed her arrangements for big band at several sold-out concerts in Toronto, Canada. Nadje Noordhuis is a Schagerl® Artist and plays their Penelope model trumpet.

James Shipp plays a wide variety of instruments and styles, most of which are based in or around jazz, which he refers to as the “big tent” in the international music world. In his career James has played jazz both new and old, Caribbean music, Brazilian music, “third-stream” chamber music, mostly improvised music, rock, funk, r&b, and with many  bands that cross and blend different genres and styles.

Friday, May 4th, at 8pm

a donation of $20.00 is suggested

Space is limited

please register by emailing

signup@villagezendo.org

Villagers and Trumpet a Buddhist Parable

In olden times, Warrior, a certain trumpeter went to a frontier district with his trumpet. He approached a certain village, and having approached, stood in the centre of the village, blew the trumpet three times, set the trumpet on the ground, and sat down on one side.

Assembling, those frontiersmen they said to that trumpet blower: “Sir, what is it that makes that sound, -so charming, so delightful, so intoxicating, so fascinating, so infatuating?”

“Friends, it is that trumpet which makes that sound, -so charming, so delightful, so intoxicating, so fascinating, so infatuating.”

They flung that trumpet down on its bottom. “Speak, O trumpet! Speak, O trumpet!” But no! That trumpet made not a sound! They flung that trumpet down bent double…on one side on the other side…; they stood it right up…up side down…; they beat it with the hand…with clods…with a stick…with a sword…; they shook it down…shook it together!” But no! That trumpet made not a sound!

Then, Warrior, to that trumpet-blower occurred the following thought: “How foolish these frontiersmen are! How can they hope to hear the sound of the trumpet by seeking otherwise than in the right way?” With the frontiersmen watching him, he picked up the trumpet, blew the trumpet three times, and walked off with the trumpet.

Then, Warrior, to those frontiersmen occurred the following thought: “Ah! When this trumpet is connected with a human being, and is connected with exertion, and is connected with wind, then this trumpet makes a sound! But when this trumpet is not connected with a human being, is not connected with exertion, is not connected with wind, then this trumpet makes not sound!”

Translated by Eugene Watson Brulingame

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Thank you for sharing another inspiring year of new trumpet music with FONT. In 2011, your donations helped support more than 20 performances, workshops and commissions, including the October tribute to Kenny Wheeler at Jazz Standard. As we begin to plan our next season, your support will assist us in pushing the boundaries of brass music and support working with artists in New York and around the world. We thank you for your support, and wish you the best in the new year. The Festival of New Trumpet Music

Copyright © 2011 Festival of New Trumpet Music, All rights reserved. unsubscribe from this list | update subscription preferences

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Come celebrate the year of music by Dave Douglas at the Jazz Standard this Thursday through Sunday.

Thursday marks the US debut of the Key Motion Quintet, a group co-led by Dave Douglas and Donny McCaslin combining the Douglas’ Keystone and McCaslin’s Perpetual Motion electric bands. Two sets: 7:30 & 9:30.

Friday night finds Dave with the avant-classical So Percussion ensemble to play music from GPS, V3: Bad Mango. Three sets: 7:30, 9:30, & 11:30.

Saturday brings the debut of the Orange Afternoons Quintet with Ravi Coltrane, Vijay Iyer, Linda Oh, and E.J. Strickland. Three sets: 7:30, 9:30, & 11:30.

And finally, Brass Ecstasy takes the stage Sunday fresh off their 3rd release, Rare Metals.Two sets: 7:30 & 9:30.

Come support this great music. We hope to see you.

Reserve your tickets here.

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Thanks to everyone who participated and attended the Kenny Wheeler Celebration at Jazz Standard for making it an absolute success! Here are some pictures and writings. We are very grateful to Kenny Wheeler for having flown over and shared his music with us. Join us in September 2012 for the next big three week New Trumpet Music Blow Out!

Best to all.
Dave

NY Times Review

Kenny Wheeler takes New York (guest post by Paul Rushka)

Nice short piece by Fred Kaplan on Stereophile’s blog

Photo by Zak Shelby Szyszko

Photo by Geoff Countryman

Photo by Geoff Countryman

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Kenny Wheeler

Kenny Wheeler: Profile of an Incredible Career

By Douglas Detrick

For more information, read Douglas Detrick’s interview with trumpeter Nick Smart about Kenny Wheeler.

Still a prolific performer and composer into his eighties, Kenny Wheeler is among the most influential trumpet players in jazz. The Festival of New Trumpet Music is proud to present Kenny Wheeler in a four-concert series taking place October 20 through 23, where he will appear with some of New York’s most in-demand trumpet players, including Ingrid Jensen, Jonathon Finlayson, Shane Endsley and Nate Wooley and the John Hollenbeck Large Ensemble to perform a range of his classic and new compositions for large and small jazz ensembles and brass ensemble.

Angel Song, ECM 1998 featuring Kenny Wheeler, Dave Holland, Lee Konitz and Bill Frisell

Kenny Wheeler is a musician about whom very much can be said, and it still might not be enough. Wheeler has changed the fields of jazz improvisation, free improvisation and jazz composition, and has created a vast body of work that, judging from its diversity, quality and creativity, would look like it had been achieved by five musicians and not just one. Dave Holland, who will join Kenny Wheeler at the Jazz Standard on October 25, had this to say about Kenny on his blog:

 As you travel your musical path you meet certain musicians who play a significant role in shaping your understanding of musical possibilities. I was lucky enough to meet Kenny early in my life and his work as a composer and player has been a source of inspiration since then. – Dave Holland

On top of all this, Kenny Wheeler is regarded as one of the kindest human beings around who is remembered fondly by all who cross his path. Though he never would have asked for it because of his legendary shyness, the Festival of New Trumpet Music is proud to honor Kenny Wheeler for all of his accomplishments in music and trumpet playing, and to recognize his important work as an artistic citizen of international significance. Following is a brief survey of Kenny Wheeler’s career intended to provide some context for his rare visit to New York City, and to introduce the broad range of his work to those who may be unfamiliar.

Born in Toronto, Canada in 1930, Kenny Wheeler was introduced to music through his father, an amateur trombonist. Beginning with Dixieland and Big Band music, Wheeler eventually began to aspire to play bebop, through a meeting with a group of friends where he first heard Dizzy Gillespie when he was fifteen. As Wheeler became more familiar with a music he disliked at first, Gillespie and bebop eventually became major influences, and jazz became his primary interest even as he earned his living playing commercial music in London.

The reissued "Windmill Tilter", Wheeler's first album as a leader.

After some formal music study in Montreal, Wheeler moved to London, and he eventually joined the John Dankworth Orchestra for a date at the Newport Jazz Festival, and later as a regular member. Wheeler began composing for the band and, during some time off from playing due to complications from wisdom teeth surgery, Dankworth suggested he write an album for the band. Wheeler’s first album as a leader, Windmill Tilter, a suite of music based on Don Quixote recorded in 1968, was the result. The album was for some time a collector’s item due to the original master tapes being lost, but was reissued in 2010 and stands as an important album in the big band tradition that began to establish Wheeler’s reputation as an important writer and player. Already Wheeler’s signature penchant for lush orchestration, dark-hued melodies and free-ranging improvisations were already apparent as a composer, and his unmistakable sound as a trumpet player had taken shape.

Anthony Braxton and Kenny Wheeler, 1975. Photo by Michael Wilderman.

In a 2002 interview on ArtistHouseMusic.org Wheeler says that even though he loved bebop, he “could never do it, even though it was my root.” It was partly this frustration with bebop that led Wheeler into his association with free jazz that marked a significant new chapter of his musical life. Wheeler began to hear about a new music that was being formulated in some London clubs, and went to hear it himself. At first he didn’t like it, but eventually he sat in and, as he said, “went berserk on the trumpet for about ten minutes.” Wheeler later became a major player on the European free jazz scene, working with the Globe Unity Orchestra, Spontaneous Music Orchestra and Evan Parker, among others. Wheeler’s association with Anthony Braxton, from 1971 through 1976, was also a significant time for him, where his technical skill on the trumpet and free approach to improvisation made him one of few trumpet players suited to Braxton’s often difficult compositions.

Booker Little

Nick Smart, a trumpeter and educator at the Royal Academy of Music in London as well as a close associate of Wheeler’s, said in a interview that Wheeler considered his playing “at its best when he was doing equal amounts of free playing and conventional playing.” Smart also mentions that the trumpeter Booker Little was a very significant influence on Wheeler. In an interview Smart conducted, Wheeler mentions that hearing Booker Little’s music “opened a new door” for him. For someone for whom courage was perhaps in short supply in the early years of his career, Little’s example provided a source for the “courage to go his own way” in his music, marrying together a unique, non-standard approach to sound on the trumpet with the bebop tradition. Kenny Wheeler developed his own approach to this idea, and his influence has passed on to many of today’s trumpet players where his influence serves them today, as Nick Smart said, as Little’s once did to Wheeler.

Wheeler’s involvement with free improvisation changed things for him, even though even many years later he says, in typical Kenny Wheeler style, that he is still unable to say whether or not he felt the music was good or bad. Most importantly though, he did feel the style allowed him to “get something out” that he couldn’t before.  About the large ensemble free jazz projects he was involved in like the Globe Unity Orchestra, he said that they were “good experiences” but that he had to “fight to really get a solo.” In this statement Wheeler reveals his interest in the solo, lyric voice within the ensemble context that is a fundamental element of his music.

Music for Large and Small Ensembles, ECM 1990

Wheeler’s compositions for large ensemble, the most well-known of which are those recorded on Music for Large and Small Ensembles on ECM records from 1990. Wheeler cites Duke Ellington and Stan Kenton as a major influence in his own large ensemble music, as well as Debussy, Hindemith, Ravel and Bartok. As far as what he’s actually trying to do, Wheeler is more likely to say that he likes to “find soppy romantic melodies mixed with a bit of chaos” or that he “writes pretty songs and joins them up” than to give a detailed, technical analysis of his own music. The music itself is much more than Kenny’s words might indicate. The first moments of “Seal Lady” beginning with Evan Parker’s solo introduction with its abstracted sounds soon joined by the lush sounds of the winds, eventually giving way to an expansive statement from Wheeler’s flugelhorn, and then Norma Winstone’s hushed, poised singing, are among the most striking and beautiful moments ever recorded. Just the first three minutes of this piece, not to mention the entire piece and the entire album, show most of the many faces of Wheeler’s artistic vision, where so much of modern music comes together into a single, sophisticated statement.

Kenny Wheeler

In a particularly fertile period, 1975 through 1978, Wheeler recorded with Anthony Braxton, his trio Azimuth with Norma Winstone and John Taylor, the Globe Unity Orchestra and released both Gnu High and Deer Wan on ECM, two records that cemented Wheeler’s status as an important player in Europe, and beyond. On display here is not only Wheeler’s productivity, but also his diversity as a player and composer. Wheeler was one of the first jazz musicians to integrate western classical music, jazz and free improvisation into a complete, compelling and unique style. Beginning with Windmill Tilter and continuing through his most recent recordings, including 2008’s Other People with the Hugo Wolf String Quartet and his newest music for big band, Wheeler’s breadth of interests and skill at transcending them to create a personal music, have set a new standard for trumpet players and musicians who have followed.

Wheeler’s upcoming residency in New York will go a long way to show just how that influence has manifested itself in some of New York’s most active trumpet players and composers and to honor this incredible musician’s contributions to the art.

Douglas Detrick

Douglas Detrick is a trumpeter, composer, and music writer based in New York City. Having worked as a composer and performer in jazz, chamber, improvised, and electro-acoustic music, he is interested in the intersection of these forms and their resonance with our culture. Detrick has written for NewMusicBox, About.com, and for his own blog at douglasdetrick.com.

For further reading:

http://www.artistshousemusic.org/videos/kenny+wheeler+interview – video interview from 2002

http://www.daveholland.com/blog/kenny-wheeler – Dave Holland writes about Kenny Wheeler

http://jazztimes.com/articles/20565-kenny-wheeler-slowly-but-surely – Gene Lees, an early friend of Wheeler’s, writes about their time together in Canada.

http://www.allaboutjazz.com/php/article.php?id=993&pg=1 – 2003 interview by John Eyles

http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2010/oct/14/kenny-wheeler-interview – article on Kenny Wheeler by John Fordham

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Nick Smart

Interview with Nick Smart: On Kenny Wheeler
from a conversation that took place 9.19.11.

By Douglas Detrick

For more information, read Douglas Detrick’s Profile of Kenny Wheeler on the FONT blog.

Introduction: Nick Smart is a trumpet player and educator based in London. When he moved to London in 1999, Smart initiated a relationship with Wheeler that has grown to find Smart performing Wheeler’s music for big band, and Wheeler making guest appearances as an educator in Smart’s classes at the Royal Academy of Music. This friendship, that began with but now transcends the teacher and student relationship, gives Smart some insight that he was willing to share with the Festival of New Trumpet’s audiences. Given Wheeler’s legendary shyness, it is very exciting to talk with someone who has studied Kenny Wheeler’s career, and even participated in it, so that we can get a deeper look into his motivations than even the man himself would feel comfortable offering. Smart is one of Wheeler’s great champions, along with many others, and FONT is happy to offer his thoughts on this great musician.

Nick Smart's Black-Eyed Dog

In 2005 Nick released his debut album “Remembering Nick Drake” to critical acclaim. The album featured Smart’s arrangements of Nick Drake’s music played by an all star line-up including John Parricelli, Paul Clarvis, Christine Tobin and Stan Sulzmann amongst others. It was described by Straight No Chaser magazine as “…a future classic because it really captures all that is best about British jazz….” and by John Fordham in Jazz UK as “…fascinating music devoted to a fascinating inspiration.” In December 2008 Nick released his trio album “Remembering Louis Armstrong” featuring Hans Koller and Paul Clarvis. The trio pay tribute to Louis Armstrong in their own creative way by exploring some of the iconic repertoire associated with him throughout his life. In their review of the album the Vortex Jazz Club said that they “strip the music down to its essentials creating intriguing, cogent improvisations in the process. An unusual, absorbing programme of music.”

Nick has been increasingly sought after in jazz education. After successfully setting up school jazz projects for Bedfordshire and Camden, Nick was invited to create and direct the Royal Academy of Music Junior Jazz Course. Students of the course have since worked alongside many guests including Dave Liebman, Tim Garland, and the course Patron, Kenny Wheeler.

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Kenny Wheeler

The Interview:

Douglas Detrick: You recently recorded some of Kenny Wheeler’s newest music for big band. What was that like?

Nick Smart: It was fantastic. We were able to get most of Kenny’s favorite musicians from the Music for Large and Small Ensembles band. Dave Holland said he wouldn’t miss it for the world, and the same with John Taylor, Norma Winstone and Evan Parker and all the saxophones from the original band and for the tour as well. The original plans for the 80^th birthday tour fell through, but we did manage to rescue six gigs from the tour and get some funding, so in October of last year we were able to do the tour with all of the new music that Kenny had written, which was some of the most amazing music yet. At the end of that tour all the band felt so in love with Kenny we all said that this music must be recorded, even if we pay for it ourselves, or work for nothing, this music needs to be recorded. That took a further eight months or so, and we recorded it just this last week, the second and third of September. So there’s a new big band album with that original British big band from Music for Large and Small Ensembles. It sounded amazing and Kenny played great.

DD: That seems to come up a lot with Kenny. He’s famous for being so shy, and people have helped him push for things along the way.

NS: Shy doesn’t even begin to describe it!

DD: It seems like people just want to play his music, and Kenny has never pushed hard himself to get people to do it. How do you think that’s worked in his career over the years? How have things come to him even though he hasn’t pushed for them?

Azimuth '85 with Norma Winstone and John Taylor

NS: He’s never pushed for things to happen, but things have happened. He has had some people like Evan Parker make the initial contact in the UK with ECM. Going right, right back. That was the first port of call. So then Kenny was associated with ECM and Azimuth, and with people like Manfred Eicher behind you its going to make it easier to do things like Gnu High and then the association with Dave Holland has given him a lot of exposure as well. Lots of people have recorded Kenny’s tunes. Even Bill Evans recorded one of Kenny’s tunes, and Jim Taylor as well. So there have been various people that have been advocates for Kenny more than he’s ever been one for himself. He has people that everyone else looks up to, and if they say Kenny Wheeler is amazing, then other people are going to believe it. Its exactly like now with the FONT festival, its going to bring him to a whole new audience.

DD: Can you tell me how Kenny interacted with the band at the recording session?

NS: He doesn’t! (Laughing) Its all there in the music, and this is the extraordinary thing that people have to understand about why that particular big band is so special. You’ve got people whose relationships with Kenny go back 40 years. Derek Watkins, the lead trumpet player, he played on Windmill Tilter. [Released in 1968, Kenny Wheeler’s first album.] So, you’re talking about a 45 year musical relationship, and the same goes for every living member of the band. It allows Kenny to just do the music, without talking about it. He’s never liked talking about it. The conductor of the band, Pete Churchill, he’ll sometimes ask things of Kenny. He’ll say “Is this what you want?” and he’ll say “Yeah, Okay, I don’t mind really.” [Nick Smart says this last part in an endearing and spot-on impression of Kenny.] He’ll never hear him say “Hey Pete, let’s do that a little bit quicker” or “let’s let this phrase sing out”, he’ll never say things like that. So, it’s interesting, but we’re all very used to it. If you’re not use to it, it can come across as a bit funny, and you might think he’s pissed off or something. He never has been like that.

DD: He doesn’t really have no opinion on the music, right? It seems that its more a matter of him trusting the musicians to interpret the music.

NS: There’s a difference when he’s working with his band, and when he travels and works with a pick-up band. When its his own band there’s a real trust. Remember that Kenny is from a generation where he just wants to play, and if they are willing to play his music then he’s happy enough about that that he doesn’t get picky. So, for someone who’s such an amazing composer, he’s very un-composerly. A lot of composers can be incredibly precious about their music. They’ll say “No, don’t hit the ride cymbal there, hit it one inch to the right so it gives it a resonance that captures the singing of birds in the morning.” Kenny hands the music over to the band, absolutely. He says “I like to write beautiful things and then let the band destroy them.” So, I think that is a part of the process for him, that you hand the music over to the band. Its not a lack of opinion about how it should be played, its an acceptance that it will be played how it will be played, and he doesn’t wish to engage in teaching. He’ll assume that you’re playing it the way you think it should be played, as a choice and not a lack of awareness.

DD: I’ve heard Kenny say several times in interviews that he’s never tried to do anything new. He’s trying to continue doing the same thing he’s always done. He might say “I just like to write pretty songs and join them up” or something like that. He also said he has to “resist the temptation that everything has already been written.” He’s still writing a lot of music into his eighties, its really quite amazing. How does he keep this kind of creative energy going?

NS: I think the interesting thing is that he can’t not do it. He writes every day, so he practices writing, in the same way he practices trumpet every day. So, he does work very hard at keeping those creative muscles working. And he doesn’t over-analyze. That’s part of the reason why he doesn’t like talking about his writing himself. He says “I’m a bit scared I’ll figure out what I do, and then I won’t be able to do it again because I’ll be so conscious of it.”

Kenny Wheeler's "Other People" featuring the Hugo Wolf String Quartet and John Taylor. CamJazz, 2008

DD: Let’s talk about Kenny’s relationship in the last few years with CamJazz, the Italian record label. This label has been a really important outlet for Kenny in the last five or so years. Kenny has been doing a lot of recordings with lots of different musicians for CamJazz, and I wonder if you feel that Kenny has more artistic freedom here than he has before? What do you think he likes about working with this label?

NS: It’s the same as with the big band. He won’t have a view on that. He’s not like the rest of us where he wants to know what their PR department is like, or what their distribution is like. He hasn’t even thought about that, he’s very much all about the music. Whoever his manager or his friends tell him he should trust, he’ll just go with that. So, he’ll just be happy that they’re doing it. He won’t have a preference based on anything. Who knows what might have happened if he had recorded more when he was younger. Do you know the story behind Windmill Tilter?

DD: Would you tell it, please?

Kenny Wheeler performs with the John Dankworth Orchestra in 1962. (Top Row, 2nd from left.)

NS: Kenny had his wisdom teeth out and John Dankworth said “why don’t you write some music?” So, that was how his first recording happened. Who knows what might have happened if he hadn’t done that, it might have been another ten years. There were some broadcasts back then, so the big band would have been together doing those. Have you seen the 20 minute documentary on YouTube?

DD: Yes, I have. [This is documentary is posted here on the FONT Blog.]

NS: That film is all about the big band, I also filmed a great deal of the recording session last week. I left about nine iPhones recording around the studio. I should be able to put something nice together out of that.

DD: You’ve also worked with Kenny as an educator.

NS: Yes, I have, a bit. I used to run the Royal Academy of Music’s Junior Jazz course on Saturdays. So, I made Kenny the patron of that course. We were already friends by then, I’d been friends with Kenny since about ’99 or ’98 when I first came down to London. I sought him out. A lot of my teachers and musicians I’d worked with knew him. So, we grew closer, and for a time I lived close to him. With Kenny its all about knowing how to treat him, how to work with him, and I got the hang of that. I’d be able to get him to come in and work with the kids and open up about things that he probably wouldn’t have done if it hadn’t been me. It’s a lucky sort of relationship for me.

DD: I went to Lawrence University, in Appleton, WI and he came for a visit in 2005. I went to both the trumpet class that he gave and the one for the whole jazz program. I could tell he was a bit uncomfortable talking about his own music in much depth, but he was able to offer general ideas about how he did what did, in a concrete sense. It was important for him to tell us what he did when he actually sits down to write. He said then, and I’ve read this in other interviews, that he always starts out by playing Bach on the piano.

NS: I think he’s found ways that he feels comfortable answering those sorts of questions. Incidentally, the way to get Kenny talking is to ask him about trumpet stuff. He loves talking about the trumpet and mouthpieces and stuff. He’s much more comfortable talking to those things because they are tangible. I can imagine in that master class there must have been more than a few awkward silences!

DD: More than a few, I’d say. What are some other examples of ways that Kenny feels comfortable teaching?

NS: I think that all of the knowledge is there in the music. What he’s been doing a lot these years is to talk about a tune, making sure he has materials. Anything so that he doesn’t have to rely on just talking. So, when we ask questions like “How does your harmony work?” then we can just look at the melody, and that will tell you. I feel like a lot of the answers are written in to the music. This is why a lot of his tunes are used in composition classes. In his writing he’s very clear, you can see how everything works. Sometimes I get him to tell stories, like, “How did you like Smitty Smith’s drumming in that Dave Holland Quintet?” and why? I try to ask him leading questions. Even with someone like Michael Brecker, you can ask “How did you like playing with Michael Brecker?” and all he’ll say is “Oh yeah, he’s a great player.” and he won’t say any more than that.

DD: How much teaching is Kenny doing these days?

NS: Very little. He will pop in at educational situations from time to time. He did a course in Italy, again because of his manager, but he’s not doing anything regularly. You could never get him to sit down and do a whole composition class, he just isn’t like that. I would like to have known what he was like back in the 80’s or 90’s, I wish I could have had lessons with him then. I’d like to know what it was like to play with him then.

DD: Kenny got involved in the free improvisation scene pretty early on. One funny thing that Kenny says about that now is that he still can’t decide if the music is good or not. He also said that he didn’t like the music when he first heard it, and said the same about bebop. How do you think this part of Kenny’s personality works into his music? How does Kenny get comfortable with a sound and decide that he wants to pursue it and develop it? It seems like he has to develop a personal familiarity with certain ideas before he can really integrate them.

Booker Little

NS: I can’t really speak to that so much, but one thing that Kenny said comes to mind. He did say that he felt that when he was most active in the free improvisation scene that he felt it was then that he was playing his best, when he was doing equal amounts of free playing and conventional playing. He said that when he was playing straight-ahead jazz he would try to play free, and when he was playing free he would try to play melodically. So, the two things were kind of complementing each other. So, it was then that he felt that his playing was really strong. But, really the whole thing was an accident. He didn’t feel like he could fit in with the bebop crowd, and he’d play behind the beat. He heard about this night the drummer John Stevens used to run at the Little Theatre Club. Why don’t I play you part of an interview I did with Kenny? [Smart plays the audio of one of his interviews with Wheeler. This portion of their discussion is transcribed here.]

KW: So I went to this free jazz club and met some of the free players.

NS: You were deliberately looking for something else?

KW: Yes, I was hearing about music that was called “avant-garde” at the time. So I went there and I listened and I hated it, but eventually they asked me if I would like to sit in.

NS: Who was there that night? Do you remember?

KW: Evan Parker was there, I think, and Trevor Watts.

NS: And John Stevens, of course.

KW: Yeah, John Stevens was the godfather of the place.

NS: I didn’t realize that you actually sought out the free scene because you were feeling frustrated.

KW: It did happen like that, yeah. It was funny because they sort of celebrated that someone had come over to them from the other side.

NS: So, did they know about you at that time?

KW: Yes. That got me into Europe at the time. Around Europe, and especially in Germany and Holland, free jazz was quite popular in the 60’s and 70’s. So, I got asked to play more in Europe by people like Alex von Schlippenbach. Some people didn’t know I could play straight ahead jazz at all.

NS: That first night when you just went crazy, was it just nerves, or did you think that was what you were supposed to do, or was it a kind of release?

KW: It was a release, a resolution.

NS: When did you feel like you really knew what you were doing?

KW: Well, I was still playing, or trying to play conventional trumpet, and I went to somebody’s house and they played me a Booker Little record and hearing that opened a whole new door for me. I heard that you could do other things and still be in the tradition. He was still somehow a bebop player. That gave me the courage to go my own way.

NS: Anecdotally people often say that you “heard Booker Little and everything changed,” but in our other conversations I never got the impression that he was singly so much of an influence. So Booker was that significant for you in bringing those two worlds together?

KW: Yeah, he was. Not so much with his time feel, but just that he was different, and I realized that one could be different.

NS: I had talked to him about Booker Little before and he had never said that he was that big of a deal for him. That interview was about a year ago, I thought I would just get some of his stories and his memories. So, it was interesting to hear that he had actively sought out the free improvisation scene because he was feeling frustrated with the other side of music. I didn’t know before that he deliberately went after it, and that Booker Little symbolized this marriage of freedom with the bebop approach. Perhaps that what Kenny means to the likes of you and I: he is to us what Booker Little was to him.

DD: I hear that approach in so many trumpet players today. Someone like Ingrid Jensen is a great example. She’s really absorbed a lot of Kenny’s sounds, and taken them in her own direction, of course. The mixing in of free, wild sounds that Kenny is so great at doing, and he also plays and writes a beautiful melody. Those two things go together really naturally for him.

Globe Unity Orchestra's "40 Years"

NS: He’s done so much. People could have been into Kenny’s music just for his jazz playing, or they could only hear his records with Anthony Braxton and be into his free playing. Or if they had only heard Angel Song or the records with Dave Holland, you might think he only played in those ways. So, there is just so much, isn’t there? There’s such breadth, but it all sounds like him.

DD: And also he was doing a lot of studio work simultaneously.

NS: Yes, loads of it. He was doing television as well. Have you heard of the Generation Game? It’s a BBC family TV show where people do lots of ridiculous things. Kenny was the trumpet player on the Generation Game. He was very much a working musician, he was just a trumpet player. He just wanted to play.

About four or five years ago, the trombonist and writer Mike Gibbs did a big band gig with Steve Swallow and Bill Frissell and some English horn players and I went with Kenny and his wife. And Kenny said “I don’t know why he won’t ask me to play in the band any more.” and I said “What are you crazy? You’re Kenny Wheeler!” of course he can’t ask you to be in the band any more. Kenny just wants to be up there playing third trumpet and not make a fuss. He doesn’t really understand who he is to the rest of us. It’d be like asking Pavarotti to be in the chorus.

DD: We’re very excited about the festival coming up here in New York. I’m so happy that we’ll be able to honor Kenny Wheeler in this way. I’m also glad to hear him play with some of the trumpet players in New York who have been influenced by him. Also, its very important to show all the new music that Kenny has written even into his eighties. Those are three really exciting things about the festival.

NS: Yes, I’m so glad we got it all together. I sent about four of the new charts to John Hollenbeck, so we’ll be playing some of the newest music as well as some of the old favorites.

DD: There’s a lot more we could talk about, but is there anything you’d like to close with that you feel people might want to know about Kenny?

Kenny Wheeler

NS: All I can say is that this is such a special event that it won’t happen again. If you’re even passingly interested in Kenny’s music, you can’t miss it. Its not going to be a teary-eyed retrospective, but concerts with a special musician who is still creating. Also, one of the most amazing things about Kenny is just him. Its not really the music or the playing. He’s a remarkable, complicated individual. That’s what makes him such a pleasure to be around. I’ve never met anyone like him and I’ve traveled the world on gigs and educational conferences and such and you can talk about musicians that people know and when you talk about most people they’ll talk about how someone is a great player. But, with Kenny their eyes will light up and they’ll say how much they love Kenny. So many people have a genuine love for Kenny.  He’s absolutely unique.

Douglas Detrick

Douglas Detrick is a trumpeter, composer, and music writer based in New York City. Having worked as a composer and performer in jazz, chamber, improvised, and electro-acoustic music, he is interested in the intersection of these forms and their resonance with our culture. Detrick has written for NewMusicBox, About.com, and for his own blog at douglasdetrick.com.

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Ted Daniel

TED DANIEL QUARTET

Enjoy music from the renowned trumpeter Ted Daniel and his  “Trumpet and Rhythm Quartet”

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The 9th annual Festival of New Trumpet Music celebrates Trumpeter/Composer Kenny Wheeler at the Jazz Standard,
October 20 – 23, 2011

THURS, OCT 20: Ingrid Jensen + Brass
featuring Kenny Wheeler

Ingrid Jensen – trumpet, Jonathan Finlayson – trumpet, Tony Kadleck – trumpet, Shelagh Abate – french horn, Elliot Mason – trombone, Jennifer Wharton – tuba, Kevin Hays – piano, Matt Clohesy – bass, Matt Wilson – drums.

$25, 7:30, 9:30 PM

FRI & SAT, OCT 21 + 22: John Hollenbeck Large Ensemble featuring Kenny Wheeler

John Hollenbeck – drums; Shane Endsley, Jon Owens, Tony Kadleck, Nate Wooley – trumpet; Alan Ferber, Jacob Garchik, Mike Christianson, Rob Hudson – trombone; Chris Cheek – tenor saxophone/reeds; Dan Willis – tenor saxophone/winds; Jeremy Viner – alto; Ben Kono – alto saxophone/winds; Bohdan Hilash – baritone saxophone/reeds; Matt Mitchell – piano; Kermit Driscoll – basses; Brad Shepik, guitar; Theo Bleckmann – voice; J.C. Sanford – conductor. Special Featured Guests: Nate Wooley and Shane Endsley, Chris Cheek, Brad Shepik $30, 7:30, 9:30, 11:30 PM

SUNDAY, OCT 23:
Kenny Wheeler New York Quintet featuring Dave Holland

Kenny Wheeler – trumpet, Jon Irabagon – alto saxophone, Craig Taborn – piano, Dave Holland – bass, Rudy Royston – drums $30, 7:30, 9:30 PM

In addition to the events at the Jazz Standard, on Saturday, October 22, from 3-6 PM, Dave Douglas will lead an informal reading session of Kenny Wheeler’s Music at NYU Steinhardt Jazz Studies, located at 75 3rd Ave., (at East 11th St.). All instrumentalists are welcome, trumpeters encouraged. Sheet music will be provided in concert and Bb keys. A rhythm section will be provided, but rhythm players are also welcome to participate. The session will also be attended by trumpeter Nick Smart, director of the jazz program at the Royal Academy of Music, London, UK. This is a free event, however advance registration is required through the festival’s website: www.fontmusic.org.

Show Times: 7:30 & 9:30 + 11:30 PM on Fridays & Saturdays.
Jazz Standard is located at 116 East 27th St. (betw Lex and Park) No minimum & student discounts.
For reservations call Jazz Standard @ 212 576 2232, or visit www.ticketweb.com orwww.jazzstandard.com

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This 1977 documentary, originally aired on BBC Omnibus and rebroadcast in 2005 for Wheeler’s 75th birthday, shows the Kenny Wheeler Big Band recording for a radio broadcast.

Kenny Wheeler brings his latest music for big band to New York City for FONT in October! Hear Kenny Wheeler’s continuing creative vision at the Jazz Standard October 20 through 23.

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