Kenny Wheeler
Around 6
ECM Records/Trio Records (Japan) 1980
PAP-9228 (LP) w/obi, insert.
sleeve : VG+(light dirts)
media : EX/EX(some slightly noise)
Released in 1980, this masterpiece as a leader is by Canadian trumpeter and flugelhornist Kenny Wheeler, who left behind numerous outstanding recordings for ECM both under his own name and with the group Azimuth. The unusual sextet lineup brings together ECM-associated musicians Edward Vesala on drums and Tom van der Geld on vibraphone, renowned Nordic trombonist Eje Thelin, French bassist Jean-François Jenny-Clark, and the singular free-jazz saxophonist Evan Parker on soprano and tenor saxophones—a combination of musicians rarely encountered on an ECM recording. The explosive free-form interplay of B1 and B2 is excellent, but A1 and A2 are particularly beautiful, unfolding into hushed landscapes as though gazing across a deep-blue horizon. It is also quite rare to hear Evan Parker playing in this more restrained and lyrical mode. Japanese pressing released as part of the Trio Jazz Mania series, with obi and insert.
A1: Mai We Go Round
A2: Solo One
B2: Riverrun