Kenneth Vincent John Wheeler, OC (14 January 1930 – 18 September 2014) was a Canadian composer and trumpet and flugelhorn player, based in the U.K. from the 1950s onwards. Most of his performances were rooted in jazz, but he was also active in free improvisation and occasionally contributed to rock music recordings. Wheeler wrote over one hundred compositions and was a skilled arranger for small groups and large ensembles. Wheeler was the patron of the Royal Academy Junior Jazz course.

Early life

Wheeler was born in Toronto, Ontario, on 14 January 1930. Growing up in Toronto, he began playing the cornet at age 12 and became interested in jazz in his mid-teens. Wheeler spent a year studying composition at The Royal Conservatory of Music in 1950. In 1952 he moved to Britain. He found his way into the London jazz scene of the time, playing in groups led by Tommy Whittle, Tubby Hayes, and Ronnie Scott.

Career

In the late 1950s, he was a member of Buddy Featherstonhaugh's quintet together with Bobby Wellins. From 1959 until 1965 he was a member of John Dankworth's orchestra, during which time he also studied composition with Richard Rodney Bennett (1962-3) and Bill Russo (1963-4). He also with (Eric Burdon and) the Animals' Big Band that made its only public appearance at the 5th Annual British Jazz & Blues Festival in Richmond (1965) with tenors Stan Robinson, Dick Morrissey and Al Gay, baritone sax Paul Carroll, and fellow trumpets Ian Carr and Greg Brown. In 1968, Wheeler appeared on guitarist Terry Smith's first solo album, Fall Out. Wheeler performed and recorded his own compositions with large jazz ensembles throughout his career, beginning with the first album under his own name, Windmill Tilter (1969), recorded with the John Dankworth band. BGO Records released a CD in September 2010. The big band album Song for Someone (1973) fused Wheeler's characteristic orchestral writing with passages of free improvisation provided by musicians such as Evan Parker and Derek Bailey, and was also named Album of the Year by Melody Maker magazine in 1975. It has subsequently been reissued on CD by Parker's Psi label. In the mid-1960s, Wheeler became a close participant in the nascent free improvisation movement in London, playing with Parker, John Stevens, the Spontaneous Music Ensemble and the Globe Unity Orchestra. Despite the above-noted accomplishments, much of his reputation rests on his work with smaller jazz groups. Wheeler's first small group recordings to gain significant critical attention were Gnu High (1975) and Deer Wan (1977), both for the ECM label (Gnu High is one of the few albums to feature Keith Jarrett as a sideman since his tenure with Charles Lloyd). One exception from the ongoing collaboration with ECM was his rare album on CBC called Ensemble Fusionaire in 1976. This had three other Canadian musicians and was recorded in St. Mary's Church in Toronto for a different character to the sound than on the ECM recordings. Wheeler was the trumpeter in the Anthony Braxton Quartet from 1971 to 1976. He was also a member of the chamber jazz trio Azimuth with John Taylor and Norma Winstone from 1977 to 2000. Their first release under this name was a 1977 album issued by ECM; two albums followed, with later albums coming in 1985 and 1995. He was featured in a profile on composer Graham Collier in the 1985 Channel 4 documentary Hoarded Dreams.

Later life

Music for Large & Small Ensembles (1990) included the Wheeler compositions "Sea Lady" and "The Sweet Time Suite", the latter his most ambitious extended work for big band since Windmill Tilter. In 1997 Wheeler received widespread critical praise for his album Angel Song, which featured an unusual drummer-less quartet of Bill Frisell (guitar), Dave Holland (bass) and Lee Konitz (alto sax). Wheeler recorded seven albums with CAM Jazz from 2005 to 2008 but returned to ECM to record his final album, Songs for Quintet, in 2013. Wheeler died after a short period of frail health at a nursing home in London on 18 September 2014. He was 84 years old. He was survived by his wife, Doreen, and his children, Mark and Louanne.

Discography

As leader/co-leader

Collaborations with John Taylor

As Azimuth

Other collaborations

Featured

As sideman

With John Abercrombie With Rabih Abou-Khalil With George Adams With Pepper Adams With the Berlin Contemporary Jazz Orchestra With Jane Ira Bloom With Anthony Braxton With Jakob Bro With Bill Bruford With Rainer Brüninghaus With Don Cherry With Steve Coleman With CCS With Graham Collier With Paolino Dalla Porta With John Dankworth With Pierre Favre With Claudio Fasoil With Bill Frisell With Globe Unity Orchestra With Paul Gonsalves With Dave Holland Quintet '''With Mark Isaacs With Philly Joe Jones With Chris Kase With Andy Middleton With Joni Mitchell With Roscoe Mitchell With Louis Moholo-Moholo With Tony Oxley With Enrico Pieranunzi With Paul Rutherford and Iskra 1912 With Tommy Smith With Wadada Leo Smith With Thomas Stabenow With David Sylvian With John Surman With Ralph Towner With Glauco Venier Trio With Ernst Vranckx With Fabio Zeppetella