Kenny Wheeler Legacy: Some Days Are Better – The Lost Scores (Greenleaf Music CDGRE 1113X)
Fame came relatively late for virtuoso trumpeter Kenny Wheeler. He was 38 years old when, laid-up following dental work, John Dankworth suggested he spend the time composing a suite which was recorded by Dankworth’s orchestra but saw Wheeler’s name prominently displayed on the cover of the now legendary Windmill Tilter (Fontana, 1969). But it was his second album, Song For Someone (Incus, 1973), that was arguably Wheeler’s real debut as a leader/composer, firmly establishing him as a major figure in British jazz. As this second album revealed, Wheeler didn’t let musical prejudices dictate his choice of musicians; he recruited players from a surprisingly wide spectrum of jazz and improv.
Wheeler’s collaborations were based on the musicians he liked or felt comfortable playing alongside. He was already a featured soloist in many bands such as those led by Mike Gibbs and Mike Westbrook, but he also collaborated with free jazz groups like the Spontaneous Music Ensemble and Tony Oxley’s Quintet and Sextet. He also played with the United Jazz And Rock Ensemble alongside his friend and fellow trumpeter Ian Carr. But it was the albums he recorded as leader for which he will be most remembered and especially those recorded under the aegis of Manfred Eicher’s label, such as Gnu High (ECM, 1975), Deer Wan (ECM, 1977), Double, Double You (ECM, 1984) and Music For Large & Small Ensembles (ECM, 1990).
A litany of Wheeler’s musical achievements would take-up far more words than this review allows but a new biography of Wheeler, Song For Someone: The Musical Life Of Kenny Wheeler by Brian Shaw and Nick Smart (Equinox, 2025) should more than suffice. Smart is head of jazz at the Royal Academy of Music and as a trumpeter himself he’s a long-time fan of Wheeler. The extensive liner notes for Some Days Are Better – The Lost Scores are taken from the book, explaining how this album came about. It’s also pertinent to mention that Wheeler’s archives including his scores were accessioned into the Royal Academy’s collections in 2012. Perhaps at least in part due to Wheeler’s self-effacing personality he wasn’t able or willing to push for gigs and his most regular media exposure was an annual BBC radio broadcast featuring his various bands. It is from these broadcasts that the scores for the pieces recorded here are taken. The “lost” aspect reflects the fact that most of the numbers have not been heard since their original airings decades ago.
Four of the 11 tunes here did re-emerge though, with Smatta (albeit with a slightly different spelling) from the album Gnu High being probably the best known. All are gleaned from the Kenny Wheeler archive except Who’s Standing In My Corner and D.G.S. Evan Parker is heard on Some Days Are Better Suite, evincing a coruscating soprano solo. Norma Winstone is also heard on that track and sublimely sings her own lyrics to Sweet Yakity Waltz. The 66-minute album is realised by the RAM Jazz Orchestra and Miami’s Frost Jazz Orchestra and serves as a timely reminder of the outstanding quality of Wheeler’s compositions.
Music Soup Organ Trio: Upbeat Mood (Chicken Coup/Summit Records CCP7032)
This Greek organ trio hailing from Athens offers some sophisticated and satisfying jazz which unfailingly swings. Evgenia Karlafti plays a Hammond XK3c organ which emulates, as much as anything can, the classic sound of the old Hammond B3. There’s certainly a touch of Larry Young about Karlafti’s technique. Nestor Dimopoulos, meanwhile, contributes Kenny Burrell-like guitar to the mix. This is all hung together by Vagelis Kotzabasis’s tight drumming. Of the eight numbers featured here, only one is a non-original, Burt Bacharach’s wistful My Little Red Book. Some of the selections veer towards mainstream but there are some standouts such as Korean Apartment, Around The World and Fun Island.
Soft Machine: Softs (Esoteric Recordings ECLECLP2897)
Remastered, cut at Abbey Road studios where it was originally recorded, and reissued here on vinyl, this was Soft Machine’s second release on EMI’s Harvest label in 1976. The band’s debut on that label, Bundles (Harvest, 1975), featured the phenomenal guitarist, Allan Holdsworth. His departure left a problem for the group, resolved by the recruitment of another talented guitarist, John Etheridge. The line-up for Softs, in addition to Etheridge, included Karl Jenkins on keyboards, Roy Babbington on bass guitar, John Marshall on drums and newcomer Alan Wakeman on tenor and soprano saxes. Jenkins wrote all the tunes on side one and three of the pieces on side two indicating that he was now the group’s driving force. With the exception of Mike Ratledge’s synthesizer contributions on Song Of Aeolus and Ban-Ban Caliban the Softs founder member was no longer an active participant in the group.
The three-part Tales Of The Taliesin is an outstanding hyperemotional revelry with its middle section seeing Etheridge in full drive mode. Ban Ban Caliban is propelled by Babbington’s ostinato bass line, Marshall’s pulsating drums and Jenkins’ chord-rich keyboard, followed by Wakeman’s serpentine soprano and Etheridge’s frenetic guitar outing. The track subtly segues into the stately and moving Song Of Aeolus, dominated by Etheridge’s soaring guitar. Following John Marshall’s spectacular drum solo on Kayoo, The Camden Tandem is an electrifying Mahavishnu Orchestra-like duet between guitarist and drummer. This welcome vinyl reissue is an essential purchase for any fans who missed out on its original 12-inch release.
John Stein: Next Gen (JS Jazz 001 CD & Tiger Turn digital)
Guitarist John Stein has titled this album for his grandchildren and it includes five original numbers dedicated to each of them by name. Stein not only wrote the tunes for each child but composed them to reflect their respective personalities. So, for example, Kai is a jolly, upbeat Latinesque number. The remaining six tracks are standards such as Lover Man and Misterioso. Stein is ably backed by bass guitarist Ed Lucie and drummer Mike Connors with whom he first began rehearsing (outdoors) during the Covid pandemic in 2020. The set concludes appropriately enough with Wayne Shorter’s Infant Eyes.
