Kenny Wheeler

One of Many CamJazz*****

Kenny Wheeler plays only flügelhorn these days. Its warm, slightly melancholy tone, softer than the trumpet, seems ideal for his particular gifts. So are his partners on this mellow session, pianist John Taylor and electric bassist Steve Swallow. The material, all Wheeler's, is marked as much by his unmistakeable melodic and harmonic sense as by the way his colleagues shape it to their own ends, playing with great intimacy and lyricism. There are some surpassingly lovely things here, among them the trio's response to the striking harmonic contours of the opening Phrase 3, Ever After(a piano-bass duet) and its trio cousin, Even After, and the delightfully unresolved piano introduction to the touching Aneba, which foreshadows the theme's opening motif. But, in its irresistible blend of vulnerability and strength, the glorious Old Balladis, in every way, archetypal Wheeler. See CamJazz.com