Kenny Wheeler/Norma Winstone/London Vocal Project: Mirrors

Hugely respected composer and trumpeter Kenny Wheeler has few peers when it comes to arranging for a large ensemble. This time, however, instead of a horn section he has a 24-voice choir. And for his principle soloist he has his longtime associate, the sublime Norma Winstone. The words, culled from the poems of Stevie Smith, Lewis Carroll and WB Yeats, give Wheeler's gorgeously ambiguous harmonies a surprising solidity, at times even seeming to rob his writing of some of its communicative power, and there will also be those whose toes curl a little at the unison singing. But when Wheeler plays his flugelhorn, sparingly but still beautifully, all qualms recede. Glee for the harmonically intrepid. editionrecords.com