Heyoke is a long jazz suite by Kenny Wheeler written for a quartet of trumpet, flugelhorn, piano, bass and drums. It appears on the 1975 ECM album Gnu High, Kenny Wheeler’s first ECM session, performed by Wheeler with Keith Jarrett, Dave Holland and Jack DeJohnette. The piece explores the idea of the heyoka from Sioux culture—a spontaneous healer and sacred clown who acts in opposition to those around him—and Wheeler has said he enjoys being in the company of people who are different. The suite takes up all of side one on the original vinyl and unfolds in two movements with extended improvisation. A handwritten Heyoke Suite score exists and is available from Kenny Wheeler Music.
