Bio
Ken Wiley is a French horn player, composer and producer with a long and varied musical career. A graduate of the Manhattan School of Music in New York, he is considered one of the top drawer studio musicians in Los Angeles, Wiley has logged some impressive credits, including appearances with bassist Charlie Haden’s Liberation Music Orchestra, the Charlie Rouse Quintet, bassists John Patitucci (Chick Corea) and Jimmy Johnson (Wayne Johnson, Allan Holdsworth), and guitarists Mike Miller and Grant Geissman (Chuck Mangione). Wiley’s talents are recognized throughout the music and film industry. He’s composed music for the short film, “The Doctor In Spite of Himself,” the docudrama, “Budo Warrior,” “Rachel Hunter-The Making of a Calendar,” and the Florida On Wheels TV series. Other studio work includes soundtracks for Family Guy, The Cleveland Show, American Dad and numerous records including Versionnes by Gian Carlo, Infinity on High by Fallout Boy, The Sound of White by Missy Higgins, and Lenny Kravitz.
Live performances include the Playboy Jazz Festival, LA Jazz Society, UCLA Jazz Concert Series, American Festival Orchestra, Julliard New Music Festival, numerous L.A. Jazz clubs , the Coleman Hawkins Jazz Festival, and clinics on playing Jazz on the Horn.
Ken is no stranger to critical praise. His first album, Visage (Passport Jazz) was picked as "Album of the Week" by Billboard and Cashbox magazines. Visage was followed by Highbridge Park, Wiley's first release on his own Krug Park Music label. In short, Highbridge Park is a synergistic blend of the haunting, melodic, warm sound of the French horn and the hypnotic rhythms of Afro-Cuban, South American and orchestral percussion.
Ken’s first acoustic Jazz CD Jazz Horn Redux is the culmination of work spawned by his popular and unique instructional play-a-long book with CD “Ken’s Jazz Lounge,” an essential for French horn players interested in the jazz idiom, with transpositions for all wind and brass instruments.
Jazz Horn Redux, features stellar West Coast musicians including Bob Sheppard, Mike Miller, Chuck Findley, Gary Grant, Dan Higgins, Luis Conte, Kendall Kay, Wally Minko and Trey Henry.
Produced by Wiley and acclaimed session trumpet player Gary Grant and Mastered by Joe Gastwirt, this collection of 11 classic Jazz standards including Sonny Rollin’s “Oleo,” Miles Davis’ “All Blues,” Charlie Parker’s “Scrapple From the Apple”, Freddie Hubbard’s “Little Sunflower”, and Antonio Carlos Jobim’s “Corcovado,” is an inspired selection, reminiscent of the great jazz recordings of the 50’s and 60’s with a fresh, modern approach.
Special effort was taken in all aspects of this recording to achieve the highest quality sound possible today; evocative of the era these classic jazz tunes were conceived.
Not usually at the forefront on most compositions, in the hands of Ken Wiley, the French Horn takes its rightful place as a lead instrument with its voice-like timbre and emotional nuance. Wiley captures the essence of these jazz classics, but are set apart by Ken’s unique interpretations, arrangements and world class French horn performance.