Upcoming New Chamber Jazz Quintet Album 'Kind of Kenny'
out on OA2 Records 10/25/24!
Pre-order your copy today!
Kind of Kenny Limited Edition Signed CD
$22.00
Enjoy Jason Keiser's new chamber jazz quintet honoring Kenny Wheeler on 'Kind of Kenny' on OA2 Records in HI-DEF Digital Download!
Featuring Jason Keiser (Acoustic Steel & Nylon String Guitars), John Stowell (Electric & Baritone Fretless Electric Guitar), Mike Zilber (Tenor & Soprano Saxophones), Erik Jekabson (Trumpet & Flugelhorn), and Danielle Wertz (Vocals Tracks 1, 3, 5, 7, 9)
'Kind of Kenny' Official Liner Notes
by Andrew Gilbert
Over the past decade San Jose guitarist Jason Keiser has carved out a sterling reputation as a bandleader whose musical passions range across North America’s expansive soundscape, and this album extends his exploration into arrestingly lyrical territory. After highlighting Woody Shaw’s treasure trove of intervallic leaping post-bop gems on 2023’s Shaw’s Groove, he turns his attention to another undersung trumpet maestro with Kind of Kenny, a deep dive into the ravishing music of Canadian composer Kenny Wheeler (1930-2014).
Ranging across Wheeler’s sumptuous discography, Keiser reimagines pieces like the elliptical “Hotel Le Hot” from 1990’s The Widow In the Window and the folky “Kind Folk” from 1997’s Angel Song. Delicately filigreed but wired with tungsten-tensile strength lines, the performances capture the burnished beauty and close calibration that mark Wheeler’s free-chamber compositions. “I love Kenny’s music. Particularly his records with odd instrumentation featuring John Abercrombie,” Keiser says.
Rejoining Keiser from the Shaw project are Berkeley-reared trumpeter Erik Jekabson, a creative catalyst on the Bay Area scene as leader of the Electric Squeezebox Orchestra, and prolific Portland guitarist John Stowell, a near legendary figure who’s worked extensively with heavyweights like NEA Jazz Master Dave Liebman and Mike Zilber, another key Kind of Kenny contributor (on tenor and soprano saxophones). With her crystalline tone and graceful phrasing Danielle Wertz provides a defining ingredient with her (mostly) wordless vocal lines, while delivering Norma Winstone’s portrait of a guarded soul on the sing-song “For Jan.”
Moving between electric and baritone fretless electric guitars, Stowell holds down the ensemble’s bottom range as he provides efficiently eloquent counterlines responding to Keiser’s acoustic steel and nylon string work. In many ways Stowell’s shared love of Wheeler’s music put the project on track. “John was the first link, making sure he was interested and available was important to me,” Keiser says, noting that Stowell has recorded several Wheeler tunes in the past, including “Kayak” and “Everybody’s Song But My Own.”
“John not only has a unique sound, phrasing and sense of time, his ideas and openness to the music are exceptional. He’s open to pushing boundaries, and we’re always bouncing ideas off of each other.”
With Kind of Kenny, Keiser and Stowell have taken an impressive leap, shining a welcome new light on a singular, insistently surprising body of music.
Andrew Gilbert is Berkeley-based music journalist
by Andrew Gilbert
Over the past decade San Jose guitarist Jason Keiser has carved out a sterling reputation as a bandleader whose musical passions range across North America’s expansive soundscape, and this album extends his exploration into arrestingly lyrical territory. After highlighting Woody Shaw’s treasure trove of intervallic leaping post-bop gems on 2023’s Shaw’s Groove, he turns his attention to another undersung trumpet maestro with Kind of Kenny, a deep dive into the ravishing music of Canadian composer Kenny Wheeler (1930-2014).
Ranging across Wheeler’s sumptuous discography, Keiser reimagines pieces like the elliptical “Hotel Le Hot” from 1990’s The Widow In the Window and the folky “Kind Folk” from 1997’s Angel Song. Delicately filigreed but wired with tungsten-tensile strength lines, the performances capture the burnished beauty and close calibration that mark Wheeler’s free-chamber compositions. “I love Kenny’s music. Particularly his records with odd instrumentation featuring John Abercrombie,” Keiser says.
Rejoining Keiser from the Shaw project are Berkeley-reared trumpeter Erik Jekabson, a creative catalyst on the Bay Area scene as leader of the Electric Squeezebox Orchestra, and prolific Portland guitarist John Stowell, a near legendary figure who’s worked extensively with heavyweights like NEA Jazz Master Dave Liebman and Mike Zilber, another key Kind of Kenny contributor (on tenor and soprano saxophones). With her crystalline tone and graceful phrasing Danielle Wertz provides a defining ingredient with her (mostly) wordless vocal lines, while delivering Norma Winstone’s portrait of a guarded soul on the sing-song “For Jan.”
Moving between electric and baritone fretless electric guitars, Stowell holds down the ensemble’s bottom range as he provides efficiently eloquent counterlines responding to Keiser’s acoustic steel and nylon string work. In many ways Stowell’s shared love of Wheeler’s music put the project on track. “John was the first link, making sure he was interested and available was important to me,” Keiser says, noting that Stowell has recorded several Wheeler tunes in the past, including “Kayak” and “Everybody’s Song But My Own.”
“John not only has a unique sound, phrasing and sense of time, his ideas and openness to the music are exceptional. He’s open to pushing boundaries, and we’re always bouncing ideas off of each other.”
With Kind of Kenny, Keiser and Stowell have taken an impressive leap, shining a welcome new light on a singular, insistently surprising body of music.
Andrew Gilbert is Berkeley-based music journalist
Photo by © Michelle Peña
"Jason Keiser blew me away when I first heard him play. He possesses an incredible guitar technique that encompasses everything from lightning fast runs to sensitive and nuanced chordal work. He is also a creative and sophisticated composer. But beyond these formidable gifts, Jason plays with a passion and vivacity that is both palpable and contagious."
Mimi Fox Professional Jazz Guitarist, & Educator |
 Photo by © Steven Glaze
"Once in awhile you encounter an artist who transcends mere technical wizardry and brings something extra to the table that can't be taught. Jason Keiser is just such an artist. Jason's playing is adventurous and exuberant, with a stylistic sense of whimsy anchored by a studied command of his instrument, enabling him to color outside the lines while bringing the listener full-circle, each solo a unique journey. An extremely accomplished young guitarist and composer whose reverence for, and expertise of Jazz and New Acoustic music will serve listeners well for a long time to come." Mike Mullins mandolinist & guitarist, Acoustic Oasis recording artist |
 Photo by © Tom Ehrlich
“Guitarist Jason Keiser is finding a unique and compelling voice both as player and composer. His eclectic tastes in music and capability to live in different genres are combining in a beautiful synergy when Jason plays and writes. I will be following his career with interest and I look forward to collaborating with Jason in the near future.”
John Stowell Professional Jazz Guitarist, Educator, Origin Records Artist |