A Night in 1999 with Kenny Wheeler's Band
This one’s for the Jazz Fans. So i’ve been meaning to re-record this short tune forever, and if you can believe, it’s 20 years since I recorded this in 2005. I didn’t ever really try to go back and re-learn it because I never had the kind of guitar around that could get this sound again. Now I have, I tried to play it again - failing miserably! I managed to stumble through the changes until 30 seconds in then for the life of me cannot find the chord that comes in after the short blues run.It’s kind of funny to me, drawing complete blanks, as I’m going by ear and never wrote this down in any kind of notation. I’m quite pleased with the chord sequence and how it modulates about, this is how I hear things sometimes and there’s no real logic going on with this one.Do I need to enlist the help of a professional? 🤭 ❀It’s fair to say, I was deeply affected by the playing of Bill Frisell on the 1997 album Angel Song with Kenny Wheeler’s band. It was haunting, spacious, full of light and dark, and it wasn’t til years later that it occurred to me that he was almost providing a piano-like accompaniment to the band, maybe even reminiscent of the British jazz pianist John Taylor, Wheeler’s long time collaborator.John Abercrombie had been the first pick by Wheeler for the recording, but producer Manfred Eicher had suggested Frisell, and Wheeler agreed.A few years later the band toured, and in a funny twist of fate, Frisell was unavailable so Abercrombie stood in.My best friend, and partner at the time, took me on the train to see it for my birthday - it was Wednesday 27 January 1999 at the Leeds Irish Centre. Words can’t convey… the beauty, light, pathos - every member of the band was outstanding, elevated by Wheeler’s haunting chamber-jazz.Some things live on in memory, suffused with golden light This was one of those nights.Notes from the The Independent, Phil Johnson, 1999https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/arts-jazz-far-too-many-notes-1074899.html“But the wild card in the Angel Song recording was the presence of the guitarist Bill Frisell. Manfred Eicher, the producer of the album, had originally suggested a trio date, but Wheeler wanted a harmony instrument and put forward the name of guitarist John Abercrombie, with whom he had played many times. Eicher countered with the suggestion of Frisell and Wheeler accepted. It was also the producer's idea that the recording should not feature a drummer.In retrospect, both of Eicher's suggestions seem crucial. The absence of drums allows the silence at the heart of the music to shine through, and Frisell's ethereal atmospherics bring with them the feel of the pedal-steel guitar in country music, which suits the melancholy temper of the compositions perfectly.Bill has that cowboy thing and I wondered whether it would suit my tunes, but it does," Wheeler says. "I do like that kind of uncluttered music. It's like he is the country, whereas John Abercrombie is the city. When Bill plays I see cowboys; with John, I think of taxis." Despite the replacement of the rural with the urban, you know that the music on the tour is still going to be, well, beautiful”And it was.𝄢𝄢𝄢𝄢𝄢𝄢𝄢𝄢𝄢𝄢𝄢𝄢𝄢𝄢𝄢𝄢𝄢𝄢𝄢𝄢𝄢𝄢 link🌳 𝄢𝄢𝄢𝄢𝄢𝄢𝄢𝄢𝄢𝄢𝄢𝄢𝄢𝄢𝄢𝄢𝄢𝄢𝄢𝄢𝄢𝄢 Get full access to The Alfalfa Mail at thealfalfamail.substack.com/subscribe
