ADULT Event

In partnership with Guildford Jazz

Nick Smart – Song for Someone: The Musical Life of Kenny Wheeler

Guildford pavilion

Doors open 19:00. Performance from 20:00 to 22:15

Tickets £20 (students £10), Meals £15.50 available from www.guildfordjazz.org.uk

In collaboration with Guildford Jazz, we are delighted to welcome Nick Smart and his stellar band which also features rising star Emma Rawicz on tenor saxophone (Winner of Jazz Newcomer of the Year at the 2022 Parliamentary Jazz Awards and BBC Young Musician Jazz finalist ), and renowned guitarist John Parricelli, to celebrate the music and life of Kenny Wheeler in words and music.

Trumpeter and composer Kenny Wheeler (1930–2014) was one of the most enigmatic and influential musicians in recent memory. His instantly recognisable sound was a driving force within every major innovation in modern European jazz during the last half of the 20th century.

about the author

After Kenny’s death in 2014, Nick Smart, Head of Jazz at the Royal Academy of Music and an internationally renowned jazz educator, trumpeter and musical director, embarked on a 10 year labour of love to produce a biography of Kenny Wheeler which manages to take in its stride the vast amount of work he undertook in a long career, and to cast light on the individuality of his playing and writing styles. Published earlier this year by Equinox Publishing, this exemplary biography is as much a perspective on the history and development of jazz in Britain and Europe as it is the extraordinary tale of this improbable pioneer.