OUT NOW: Some Days Are Better: The Lost Scores by Kenny Wheeler Legacy
We are thrilled to release Some Days Are Better by Kenny Wheeler Legacy featuring the Royal Academy of Music Jazz Orchestra and Frost Jazz Orchestra.
Released to coincide with the publication of Wheeler’s highly anticipated biography Song For Someone: The Musical Life of Kenny Wheeler (Equinox Publishing), Some Days Are Better explores an undiscovered treasure of rarely-heard works by the iconic composer from a crucial and largely unknown period in his musical emergence. Recorded in partnership between the Royal Academy of Music (London) & the Frost School of Music (Miami).
In an interview with Morgan Enos for UK Jazz News, album producer Nick Smart reflects:
“This project isn’t about fandom; it’s about legacy. And a legacy is most meaningful when it transcends the mere musical content that the person leaves behind and becomes a fundamentally human story. And Kenny’s story is one of such triumph over adversity.”
Kenny Wheeler is considered one of the most influential figures in contemporary jazz. Born in Toronto in 1930 but based in the UK from 1952, by the 1960’s Wheeler had become highly regarded in the London scene, known as a post-bop trumpeter and flugelhorn player inspired by Booker Little and Freddie Hubbard, but also as a pioneering free player moving into unexplored territory alongside improvisers such as John Stevens, Evan Parker, Dave Holland and Derek Bailey. He died in 2014 at the age of 84, leaving behind an impactful legacy that has remained a towering influence for legions of acolytes. Legendary bassist and NEA jazz master, Dave Holland, a lifelong colleague of Wheeler, characterized him as so: “Kenny was a true original, always in the music. For his generation, he contributed a harmonic language, which at that time was brand new. Who he was, as a person, was embodied in the music in a certain way, which is the highest form of artistry.”
The album is available now on streaming, digital and on CD, and can also be purchased at the Greenleaf store. The CD contains a 36 page booklet with extensive liner notes from Wheeler biographer Nick Smart.
Executive Producers, Tom and Mayumi Adams
Executive Produced for Greenleaf Music by Dave Douglas
Produced by Nick Smart and John Daversa
Recording Engineer – Andrew Dudman
ProTools Recordist – Matt Jones
2nd Assistant Engineer – Seth Taylor
Edited and Mixed by Dudley Merriam
For Ingrid Jensen session: Manhattan School of Music chief recording engineer Dan Rorke, and assistant engineer Bryant Blackburn.
Mastering Engineer: Paul Wickliffe
Recorded at Abbey Road Studios (Studio 2), London, U.K., June 25-26, 2024
Liner Notes: Nick Smart
Artwork: Ricky Chavez
All original scores and parts from Kenny Wheeler archive except “Who’s Standing in my Corner” and “D.G.S.” which were transcribed by Alan Hsiao.