Kenny Wheeler

Kenneth Vincent John Wheeler, OC (14 January 1930 – 18 September 2014) was a Canadian composer and trumpet and flugelhorn player, based in the U.K.

from the 1950s onwards.
Kenny Wheeler did not like to label, or as he sometimes put it ‘pigeonhole’, music. His music and his playing spanned many genres. He was undoubtedly rooted in jazz while he also loved free improvisation. He occasionally contributed to rock music recordings and was influenced by the world of classical music. He especially loved listening to Paul Hindemith, Igor Stravinsky, Maurice Ravel, Claude Debussy and J.S. Bach. He composed prodigiously throughout his career and was a skilled arranger for small groups and large ensembles. At the time of his passing he was the patron of the Royal Academy Junior Jazz course