Kenny Wheeler

The Jazz Live Trio (pianist Klaus Koenig, bassist Peter Frei and Pierre Favre and Peter Schmidlin alternating on drums) presents trumpeter Kenny Wheeler and saxophonist Alan Skidmore as special guest soloists on live radio sessions broadcast from Zurich over three separate dates in '78, '79 and '80.
The CD includes two separate sessions apiece from Kenny Wheeler and Alan Skidmore, and culminates with a final session where the two are spotlighted together. The material played is mainly Skidmore originals - he has four of the six tracks. The remaining two are Kenny Wheeler's A Simple Tune and Duke Ellington's Come Sunday. Of the four Skidmore compositions, three appear on disc for the first time. Kenny Wheeler, known internationally and with a string of groundbreaking albums on ECM was a member of Alan Skidmore's 1969 quintet with John Taylor, Tony Oxley and Harry Miller. The quintet made just one album, Once Upon A Time, which until now, represented the only session that Wheeler and Skidmore had made together. The release of these live sessions from the archives of Swiss Radio are therefore important additions to their discographies and an essential purchase for any serious jazz fan. Kenny Wheeler and Alan Skidmore have been important and popular mainstays of the UK jazz scene since the late 50s, working over the years in styles that encompass everything from modal-jazz through to post-bop and free form, plus individual forays supporting some of the biggest names of the 60s blues and rock scene.

Personnel:
Kenny Wheeler (trumpet)
Alan Skidmore (tenor saxophone)
Klaus Koenig (piano)
Peter Frei (bass)
Pierre Favre, Peter Schmidlin (drums)