MP3 Ken Wiley - Visage

Surrounding the listener with dense harmonies and memorable melodies, french horn player and composer, Ken Wiley has created a contemporary recording that showcases the natural beauty of the horn while spanning both the new age and jazz genres.

7 MP3 Songs
NEW AGE: New Age, JAZZ: World Fusion



Details:
Ken Wiley is a French horn player and composer with a long and varied musical career. A graduate of Manhattan School of Music in New York City, Wiley has logged some impressive credits, including appearances with bassist Charlie Haden's Liberation Music Orchestra and performances at the Playboy Jazz Festival. He has worked with the Charlie Rouse Quintet, bassists John Patitucci (Chick Corea) and Jimmy Johnson (Wayne Johnson, Allan Holdsworth), and guitarists Mike Miller (Chick Corea) and Grant Geissman (Chuck Mangione). Wiley also has his own group of top-drawer L.A. musicians.

Ken is no stranger to critical praise. His first album, Visage (on the Passport Jazz label) was picked as "Album of the Week" by Billboard and Cashbox magazines. Wiley's prowess as a musician is recognized throughout the music and film industry and he has an endorsement deal with Yamaha Musical Instruments. He gives clinics on the French horn, arguably one of the most difficult instruments in the world, while traveling throughout the country.

Highbridge Park is Wiley's first release on the Krug Park Music label. In short, Highbridge Park is a synergistic blend of the haunting, melodic, warm, occasionally piercing sound of the French horn and the hypnotic rhythms of Afro-Cuban, South American and orchestral percussion. Wiley has succeeded in creating a contemporary record that showcases the natural beauty of the French horn. "I didn't want to lose the very pretty qualities of the horn, which can sometimes happen when the instrument is introduced into the Jazz medium." Highbridge Park also spotlights percussionist Luis Conte (Madonna, Pat Metheny, Strunz & Farah) and drummer Ralph Humphrey (Free Flight). Their interaction, rounded out by bassist Bob Mair and world renown percussionist Brad Dutz is nothing short of astounding! Thick grooves and infectious rhythms propel the hypnotic, dreamlike music along. "It's like a soundtrack for the soul", says Wiley.