Kenny Wheeler Legacy, Some Days Are Better: The Lost Scores Review

Elegance and Edge: Rediscovering Kenny Wheeler’s Some Days Are Better

by Ferell Aubre

Kenny Wheeler’s music has always carried a touch of mystery with its lyrical and daring language. Now, with Some Days Are Better: The Lost Scores, Greenleaf Music cracks open a hidden chapter of his story. Released on January 31, 2025 to coincide with Wheeler’s long-awaited biography Song for Someone: The Musical Life of Kenny Wheeler (Equinox Publishing), this project dives into a “missing link” period of Wheeler’s output: the early 1970s BBC broadcast years, when he was carving out his voice as a composer for his own big band. The scores sat in cardboard boxes and plastic bags in Wheeler’s attic until Nick Smart and the Royal Academy of Music brought them into the light. Recorded at Abbey Road Studios with the Royal Academy Jazz Orchestra and the Frost Jazz Orchestra, and graced by a who’s who of Wheeler devotees—Ingrid Jensen, Brian Lynch, Etienne Charles, Shelly Berg, Chris Potter, Norma Winstone, Evan Parker, John Daversa—the album is both a resurrection and a celebration. It dropped just after what would have been Wheeler’s 95th birthday, underscoring the project’s sense of occasion.

Wheeler’s legacy lives in that sweet spot between elegance and surprise, and Some Days Are Better: The Lost Scores proves just how alive that spirit still feels. From the developing “Smatta”, the album makes its case with Ingrid Jensen’s warm trumpet tone, which adds to the ensemble’s sound. The medium-up swing feel has layers of counterpoint darting and weaving that keep the ear leaning forward. The Royal Academy players dig into the writing with balance and energy, their phrasing fluid within each section. Scottie Thompson turns in a piano solo with lines that flow with the mood and color Wheeler planted in the chart. Jensen follows with a lyrical, stylish solo before the ensemble drops back into a rubato echoing the intro before swelling back to a horn-driven up-tempo cadence that seals the opener with purpose.

The heart of the record is the multi-part “Some Days Are Better Suite.” The album’s concept blossoms with Wheeler’s writing. The orchestration blends voice and horns organically as the colors blur in all the right ways. These creative textures are orchestral and evocative of Wheeler’s music. Evan Parker brings his signature bite and personality on tenor; his improvisation is expressive with the harmonic fabric. Nick Smart’s flugelhorn shines in lyrical lines, each phrase reminding us why Wheeler trusted this instrument to sing his inner voice. The suite even breaks open into a collective free section where Winstone’s vocal improvisation proves daring and pitch-true. The performance shapes harmonic contours in dialogue with the horns. It’s an arrangement that radiates Wheeler’s ethos of disciplined writing meeting exploration.

When Chris Potter enters on “Sweet Yakity Waltz”, the energy spikes as expected. His tenor solo is a performance filled with surprise and momentum, building stories from phrase to phrase, while the chart colors support his fire. Wheeler’s writing ensures that Norma Winstone’s vocals balance the storm, her voice threading through the ensemble with warmth and command. Together, they reveal two sides of the same coin.

Across the set, other highlights abound with Brian Lynch’s burnished flugelhorn on “D.G.S.”, Maria Quintanilla’s understated grace on “Song for Someone”, and John Daversa’s trumpet flare on “Introduction to No Particular Song”. The through-line is always Wheeler’s pen, inviting on a journey of sound discovery. What lingers is an admiration for the archival rescue, the roster of guests, and the core ensemble. The joy radiates when musicians step into Wheeler’s world and find fresh possibilities.

That joy of discovery is the truest marker of Wheeler’s spirit. Some Days Are Better: The Lost Scores carries that torch, reflecting his blend of elegance, edge, and emotion. This is a lost score recovered and brought to a living and breathing reminder that Kenny Wheeler’s music still has plenty to say.