To mark the release of Song for Someone, a major new biography on the great Canadian born, UK based trumpet player, composer and band-leader Kenny Wheeler, co-author Professor Nick Smart joins Jez Nelson for a two-hour special celebrating Kenny’s music and life. As well as classic music from throughout Wheeler’s 60 year career Nick shares insights and beautiful stories from this incredible book and we hear from Kenny himself in archive interviews with Jez.
Trumpeter and composer Kenny Wheeler (1930–2014) was one of the most enigmatic and influential musicians in recent memory. His instantly recognisable sound was a driving force within every major innovation in modern European jazz during the last half of the 20th century. In an artform where individuality represents the highest level of expression, Kenny was peerless. Indeed, few jazz artists of any era developed such a fingerprint in one area, let alone becoming immediately identifiable as virtuoso instrumentalists, improvisors, and composers.
From the book’s Foreword by Dave Holland
Although I had the honour and pleasure of spending countless hours talking with him about life and music over a period of about 45 years, this lovingly created biography by Nick Smart and Brian Shaw revealed many details about Kenny’s life that were unknown to me and gave me a new understanding of the man, the musician and his lifelong commitment to more perfectly express himself through his music and share it with us all.
Stay tuned and keep an eye on our schedule for details on when you can hear One Jazz One Artist – Kenny Wheeler.