Kenny Wheeler – Gnu High (ECM)

"Gnu High" was trumpeter and flugelhornist Kenny Wheeler's first session for ECM and Keith Jarrett's last as a sideman: both deliver amazing improvisations in a highly interactive quartet with Holland and DeJohnette, and Wheeler's compositions are riveting.

"Luminessence," ECM's new audiophile vinyl reissue series, is a kaleidoscope that illuminates the jewels of the label's extensive catalog in elegant, high-quality editions. The hallmark of the series: original and atmospheric music, imaginatively played and sensitively produced. The recordings underscore the scope and diversity of ECM's sound world, and the LPs are presented in a variety of formats.

Kenny Wheeler's sensational ECM leader debut as a vinyl reissue in our new audiophile Luminessence series for. Recorded in New York in 1975 and produced by Manfred Eicher, the album "Gnu High" brought Canadian trumpeter Wheeler a new level of international recognition for both his passionate playing and lyrical compositions. Here Kenny Wheeler leads an extraordinary quartet with Keith Jarrett, Dave Holland and Jack DeJohnette, all masterful improvisers whose intuitive collective understanding had been shaped as members of Miles Davis' groups.

"What you hear," says Jack DeJohnette, "is the spontaneity of the moment." Dave Holland notes that Gnu Hugh "had this wonderful combination of shape, form and harmony of Kenny's pieces, but also this really free way of interpreting them." The album's gatefold cover features new liner notes by Kenny's friend, colleague and biographer Nick Smart.