Kenny Wollesen

Kenny Wollesen
Kenny Wollesen at the Satchmo club in Maribor, Slovenia, 2011 Photo by Jan Prunk
Background information
Born	(1966-04-09) April 9, 1966
Genres	Avant-garde jazz, classical, rock
Occupation	Musician
Instrument	Drums
Labels	Tzadik

Kenny Wollesen (born 1966) is an American drummer and percussionist.

Wollesen lives in New York City. He has recorded and toured with Tom Waits, Sean Lennon, Ron Sexsmith, Bill Frisell, Norah Jones, John Lurie, Myra Melford, Steven Bernstein, and John Zorn. He is a founding member of the New Klezmer Trio and a member of the Sex Mob and Himalayas groups. He also performs on the soundtrack to the popular children's show The Backyardigans.

Kenny grew up in Capitola, CA, studying at Aptos HS and spent many teenage years jamming with Donny McCaslin. He spent quality classroom time with flugelhornist and arranger Ray Brown at Cabrillo College. Kenny also arranges and studied vibraphone at Cabrillo.

Discography

• Pitch, Rhythm and Consciousness (New Artists, 2011)
• The Gnostic Preludes: Music of Splendor (Tzadik, 2012)
• John Zorn: The Mysteries (Tzadik, 2013)
• Rasa Rasa (Tzadik, 2014)

With New Klezmer Trio

• Masks and Faces (Nine Winds, 1991 / Tzadik, 1996)
• Melt Zonk Rewire (Tzadik, 1995)
• Short for Something (Tzadik, 2000)

With Steve Beresford

• Signals for Tea (Avant, 1995)

With David Byrne

• Grown Backwards (Elektra/Nonesuch, 2004)

With Nels Cline

• Lovers (Blue Note, 2016)

With Crash Test Dummies

• I Don't Care That You Don't Mind (Cha-Ching, 2001)
• Jingle All the Way (Cha-Ching, 2002)

With Sylvie Courvoisier

• Double Windsor (Tzadik, 2014)

With Bill Frisell

• Blues Dream (Elektra/Nonesuch, 2001)
• Unspeakable (Elektra/Nonesuch, 2004)
• East/West (Elektra/Nonesuch, 2005)
• Further East/Further West (Elektra/Nonesuch, 2005)
• History, Mystery (Elektra/Nonesuch, 2008)
• All We Are Saying (Savoy Jazz, 2011)
• Guitar in the Space Age! (OKeh, 2014)

With Ben Goldberg

• The Relative Value of Things (33¼, 1992)

With the Himalayas

• Son of Rogues Gallery: Pirate Ballads, Sea Songs & Chanteys (ANTI-, 2013)

With Julian Lage

• ARCLIGHT (Mack Avenue, 2016)

With Rickie Lee Jones

• The Evening of My Best Day (2003)

With Sean Lennon

• Into the Sun (Grand Royal, 1998)

With Ruper Ordorika

• Dabilen Harria (Nuevos Medios, 1999)
• Hurrengo goizean (Metak, 2002)
• Kantuok jartzen ditut (Metak, 2004)
• Memoriaren Mapan (Elkar, 2006)
• Haizea Garizumakoa (Elkar, 2009)
• Hodeien azpian (Elkar, 2011)
• Lurrean etzanda (Elkar, 2014)
• Guria ostatuan (Elkar, 2016)

With Ellen Reid

• Cinderellen (Mr. Friendly, 2001)

With John Scofield

• Bump (Verve, 2000)

With Tom Waits

• The Black Rider (Island, 1993)

With John Zorn

• Bar Kokhba (Tzadik, 1994–96)
• Filmworks VIII: 1997 (Tzadik, 1998)
• Filmworks XIII: Invitation to a Suicide (Tzadik, 2002)
• Filmworks XIV: Hiding and Seeking (Tzadik, 2003)
• 50th Birthday Celebration Volume 4 (Tzadik, 2004)
• Voices in the Wilderness (Tzadik, 2003)
• Electric Masada: At the Mountains of Madness (Tzadik, 2005)
• Filmworks XVII: Notes on Marie Menken/Ray Bandar: A Life with Skulls (Tzadik, 2006)
• Filmworks XVIII: The Treatment (Tzadik, 2006)
• The Dreamers (Tzadik, 2008)
• Filmworks XXI: Belle de Nature/The New Rijksmuseum (Tzadik, 2008)
• O'o (Tzadik, 2009) with The Dreamers
• Filmworks XXIV: The Nobel Prizewinner (Tzadik, 2010)
• Ipos: Book of Angels Volume 14 (Tzadik, 2010) with The Dreamers
• Baal: Book of Angels Volume 15 (Tzadik, 2010) with Ben Goldberg Quartet
• In Search of the Miraculous (Tzadik, 2010)
• Dictée/Liber Novus (Tzadik, 2010)
• Interzone (Tzadik, 2010)
• The Goddess – Music for the Ancient of Days (Tzadik, 2010)
• The Satyr's Play / Cerberus (Tzadik, 2011)
• Nova Express (Tzadik, 2011) with the Nova Quartet
• At the Gates of Paradise (Tzadik, 2011)
• A Dreamers Christmas (Tzadik, 2011) with The Dreamers
• Mount Analogue (Tzadik, 2012)
• The Gnostic Preludes (Tzadik, 2012) with the Gnostic Trio
• Rimbaud (Tzadik, 2012)
• A Vision in Blakelight (Tzadik, 2012)
• Music and Its Double (Tzadik, 2012)
• The Concealed (Tzadik, 2012)
• The Mysteries (Tzadik, 2013) with the Gnostic Trio
• Dreamachines (Tzadik, 2013) with the Nova Quartet
• In Lambeth (Tzadik, 2013) with the Gnostic Trio
• On Leaves of Grass (Tzadik, 2014) with the Nova Quartet
• The Testament of Solomon (Tzadik, 2014) with the Gnostic Trio
• Pellucidar: A Dreamers Fantabula (Tzadik, 2015) with The Dreamers