Biography
Wes Hensel, raised in Cleveland, gained favor among numerous brass-focused performance ensembles, among them Jack Cathcart’s Las Vegas groups. Reliable as a lead trumpeter, he also produced electrifying charts on standards such as “You Are Too Beautiful” for Dave Pell’s octet and “Flying Home” for the Les Brown band. During the latter 1940s his work with Charlie Barnet’s and Boyd Raeburn’s orchestras introduced a rhythmic style that engaged attentive listeners while spurring dancers onto the floor. Beginning in 1948 he joined the circle of musicians surrounding Brown, and several charts he created with trombonist Bob Brookmeyer for that ensemble now reside in the permanent holdings of the University of Arizona School of Music. Throughout the 1970s and 1980s Hensel instructed at the Berklee School of Music in Boston, where pupils praised methods that included vocalizing atonal twelve-tone melodies. One central principle he stressed—the necessity of punctual arrival—continues to be overlooked by most players.