Kenny Wheeler
Gnu High
ECM Records/Trio Records (Japan) 1976
PAP-9040 (LP) w/obi, insert.
sleeve : VG+(SPSE: 4cm crack on bottom, light wear on corner, light wrinkle on one corner)
media : EX/EX(some slightly noise)
Released on ECM in 1986, this album as a leader is by Toronto-born trumpeter and flugelhornist Kenny Wheeler, who had been based in the UK since the late 1960s, participated in numerous projects including Azimuth, and sadly passed away in 2014. A quartet recording featuring some of ECM’s most distinguished musicians: Keith Jarrett on piano, Dave Holland on bass, and Jack DeJohnette on drums. Like its beautiful sleeve depicting autumn mountains glowing red, the album paints an equally beautiful inner landscape and perfectly embodies the ECM sound. The intuitive interplay between the four musicians is flawless throughout. The overwhelming centerpiece is A1, an extended composition lasting nearly twenty-two minutes and occupying the entire first side. Moving through a variety of developments, it expresses an extraordinary range of subtle emotions. The title track on B2 is equally superb. An album that deserves deep and attentive listening. Japanese pressing released as part of the Trio Jazz Mania series, with obi and insert.
A1: Heyoke
B2: Gnu Suite