Wheeler, Kenny - One of Many

SKU 25-CAM 5042
A wonderful trio session with Kenny on his flugelhorn, with backing by long time partner John Taylor and Steve Swallow on bass.

"This is a beautiful album. The last Kenny Wheeler album I bought was "Touche," his duet with Paul Bley, and I was disappointed. Not because it isn't good, but because I was expecting to hear an "ECM" album: that classic introspective, yet soaring and even swinging flugelhorn that KW plays on albums like Gnu High, Widow in the Window, Angel Song, etc. "Touche" was too experimental, too playful in contrast to what I knew KW is capable of, or rather what I wanted him to play. I wanted classic "ECM" beauty. On "One Of Many" I got what I wanted, but with the wild card Steve Swallow. At first his acoustic bass guitar sounds thin, dry, weird, but only because my ears are so accustomed to hearing the double-bass of Dave Holland in the background of KW's playing. Then, I begin to see the subtle virtue of this trio grouping: Swallow can provide the rich bass tones when needed, but can also step in as another melodic instrument, almost sounding like a flamenco guitar at times. And then there is the memorable "latin-ish" groove that he lay down in the beginning of "Fortune Smiles" on the Keith Jarrett/Gary Burton album, of which we catch a few glimpses here, most notably on the last track. John Taylor, as always, provides beautiful, sensitive accompaniment, with exciting but not flashy solos: everything that I like about Jarrett and Corea in their more tender moments, without the weird outbursts or noises that annoy some listeners. Also comforting to my ECM-oriented ears is the reverb which is sadly lacking in some of Wheeler's non ECM recordings. Every note, every phrase Wheeler plays deserves to shine, to live as long as possible. If I were to give this album less than 5 stars, it would be for the cover layout, which looks a little too much like a motivational corporate powerpoint slide."-John P. Piaza



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