By the end of the seventies, critics of ECM were pretty sure what to expect of the music produced by Manfred Eicher (even if they hadn’t actually heard all that much of it). ‘Pastel prettiness’ is one (largely inappropriate) epithet I remember from the time. One wonders what such critics would have made of the range of music evident in these typically intelligent – and passionate – Wheeler pieces, here reissued: of the majestic command of space in Solo or the rockish pulse in the development of Mai, the soprano multiphonics from Parker here and his torrential tenor outing on the dynamically varied Down; the thoughtfulness evident in the gradual thickening of texture in Ride – which precipitate a particularly well balanced outing for Thelin – or the sheer bounce and high spirits of Riverrun, where van der Geld sets a lovely, rolling opening mood. Jenny-Clark and Vesala offer some cracking, crackling moments – although I’ve heard better sessions from the latter, who very occasionally sounds surprisingly (i.e., unproductively) ‘between’ genres here, to my ears at least. A distinctly pastel-free and largely rewarding and enjoyable session. Michael Tucker
Discography
Mai We Go Round; (*) Solo One; May Ride; Follow Down; Riverrun; Lost Woltz (46.20)
Kenny Wheeler (t, flh); Evan Parker (ss, ts); Eje Thelin (tb); Tom van der Geld (vib); J F Jenny-Clark (b); Edward Vesala (d); (*) Wheeler solo. Ludwigsburg, August 1979.
(ECM 1156)