THERE'S no stopping composer, trumpeter and flugelhorn player Kenny Wheeler.

When he turns 75 this Friday, he's not going to sit at home and have a quiet celebration with his feet up - he's heading off on tour to do it in style!

Kenny Wheeler's 75th Birthday Celebration is coming to The Anvil on Wednesday, January 19, at 7.45pm, along with British star bassist Dave Holland, alto saxophone player Lee Konitz, Evan Parker on tenor sax and vocalist Norma Winstone for a huge party with an all-star 18-piece big band, specially commissioned by BBC Radio 3.

Harking back to Kenny's renowned record Music For Small And Large Ensembles, the evening combines an intimate first set with a second half that culminates in a new work for the band.

And for Kenny, the latter was enough reason to take to the road.

"I really wanted to work with a big band of that size," he says, his Canadian accent still strong over the phone, although he has been resident in England since 1952 and is often thought to be an English musician.

"I chose the musicians who are going to accompany me because I had worked with them all over the years - you can't improve as a musician and a player unless you have that experience."

And Kenny has certainly performed with the greats.

After beginning in his hometown of St Catherines, encouraged by his trombonist dad, he studied composition with Rodney Bennett and William Russo.

His earliest influences included Buck Clayton and Roy Eldrige but, by the time he left for London, he was looking towards bebop, Miles Davis and Fats Navarro particularly.

After his arrival in London, he worked with modernists like Joe Harriott and Ronnie Scott, before joining the Johnny Dankworth band in 1959, in time for their breakthrough Newport Jazz Festival appearance.

In 1966, a chance encounter with drummer John Stevens at the Little Theatre Club in London set Wheeler on a new course.

To the surprise of many, he became deeply involved in free music and joined both Stevens' Spontaneous Music Ensemble and the Tony Oxley group.

Through saxophonist Evan Parker and guitarist Derek Bailey, Kenny was initiated into the Globe Unity Orchestra, the German-based big band led by the pianist Alexander von Schlippenback.

His membership continues - he is prominently featured on the three albums that the Globe Unity Orchestra has recorded for the JAPO/ECM label.

Then, in 1971, Anthony Braxton, impressed by Wheeler's abilities to play the demanding charts on the session for The Complete Braxton, invited him to join his group.

Braxton's music became Wheeler's priority until 1976, when the difficulties of commuting between London and New York became overwhelming. But in between, he found time to record Song For Someone, a record that juxtaposed free and jazz elements, and Gnu High, a still very fresh album with Keith Jarrett, Dave Holland and Jack DeJohnette.

"My favourite people to work with are definitely Dave Holland and John Taylor," Kenny adds.

"But I never had any long-term plan - I just took it day by day and I still do.

"These days, I enjoy the bandstand very much - just not all the things that go with it, like the travelling."

Does he ever consider returning to Canada?

"Not at all, because I'm very settled here and I feel more like a European now.

"I've lived in London for a long time and I really like it.

"There are always new tunes to discover."

Tickets for Kenny Wheeler, priced at £17.50 (with concessions available), can be booked at the box office on 01256 844244, the website www.theanvil.org.uk or the ticket fax, 01256 366900.