Dave Holland & Norma Winstone – Vital Spark (Music of Kenny Wheeler) 2LP (Hyacinth Vinyl)

Dave Holland & Norma Winstone – Vital Spark (Music of Kenny Wheeler)

We proudly present "Vital Spark", a new album by Dave Holland, Norma Winstone and the London Vocal Project under the direction of Pete Churchill.

The album contains a collection of Kenny Wheeler's last compositions, which he sent to Pete Churchill over the years. The latter brought them to life through patient arranging, attentive listening and mutual trust.

"Vital Spark" captures a rare unity of jazz ensemble and choir, revealing a sound that is unforced, tender, thoughtful and at the same time full of Kenny's character and energy.

The music features new lyrics by Norma Winstone as well as Wheeler's settings of poems by Stevie Smith, Lewis Carroll, Langston Hughes and William Blake. The result is unmistakably Kenny Wheeler: lyrical but unsentimental, harmonically rich yet expansive.

For Dave, Norma and Pete, this project is a personal, shared remembrance and reinterpretation, shaped by decades of friendship, collaboration and quiet reverence for one of the most extraordinary voices in modern music.

Dave Holland - Bass
Norma Winstone - Vocals
Nikki Iles - piano
James Maddren - drums
Mark Lockheart - tenor and soprano saxophone
John Parricelli - guitar
THE LONDON VOCAL PROJECT
Conductor: Pete Churchill

Tracklist:
LP1:
1. Inner Traces
2. Will You Walk a Little Faster?
3. Not Waving But Drowning
4. Jazzonia
5. Fuite D'enfance

LP2:
1. Vital Spark
2. Infant Joy
3. Heavenly City
4. These Are the Things We Trust

Label: Edition
Released: 2026