Angel Song
Kenny Wheeler is among the most lyrically commanding yet daring of modern trumpeters. There's a palpable ease of execution, and a poignant human quality, to his distinctive timbre, as on the title tune where his fluttering descents into the lower register, the cracked yet powerful vocal inflections, and the sudden emission of high harmonics suggest a whistling column of air slowly leaking from a balloon. And from the moody Spanish tinge of "Present Past" to the raga-ish Nordic gravity of "Unti," alto player Lee Konitz matches Wheeler's lyric ease with a singing sound and rhythmic buoyancy all his own. And on "Omno," the jazziest selection of this recital, bassist Dave Holland's fluent 4/4 pulse and electric guitarist Bill Frisell's evocative minor voicings form a seamless web of open harmonies, leading to a contrapuntal dialogue which recalls Lennie Tristano's visionary late-'40s designs--a direct ancestor of this evocative set of chamber jazz.--Chip Stern