As a key part of the London jazz scene in the 1970s, trumpeter Kenny Wheeler was
at the forefront of the free-improvisation movement and a composer whose
arrangements became landmark standards for generations that followed. Born in
Toronto, Canada, Wheeler's father was an amateur trombone player enamoured with
Glenn Miller and Dixieland big bands and he bought 12-year-old Kenny a cornet
after he began to show an interest in music. It led to him studying composition
at the Royal Conservatory of Music but, instead of training to become a teacher,
he spent his tuition money on a tic...