Nora Wheeler

Chance encounters and serendipitous meetings have played a large role in the budding musical career of bassist Nedra Wheeler. First there was the scene in Paris that might have been pulled from "Round Midnight," Bertrand Tavernier's celluloid homage to jazz. Wheeler, on a three-month visit in 1990 after a tour of Bulgaria with pianist Milcho Leviev, climbs out of a basement club late one night and passes two men heading the other direction. Suddenly, she's hit by a wave of recognition.

Chance encounters and serendipitous meetings have played a large role in the budding musical career of bassist Nedra Wheeler. First there was the scene in Paris that might have been pulled from "Round Midnight," Bertrand Tavernier's celluloid homage to jazz. Wheeler, on a three-month visit in 1990 after a tour of Bulgaria with pianist Milcho Leviev, climbs out of a basement club late one night and passes two men heading the other direction. Suddenly, she's hit by a wave of recognition.