{"id":763619,"date":"2026-02-14T08:42:14","date_gmt":"2026-02-14T08:42:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/763619\/"},"modified":"2026-02-14T08:42:14","modified_gmt":"2026-02-14T08:42:14","slug":"dave-holland-norma-winstone-london-vocal-project-vital-spark","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/763619\/","title":{"rendered":"Dave Holland, Norma Winstone, London Vocal Project \u2013 \u2018Vital Spark\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s more than decade since Kenny Wheeler<\/strong> died and yet, hard on the heels of last year\u2019s Grammy nominated Some Days Are Better comes Vital Spark. \u2018Some Days\u2019 revisited writing from relatively early in Wheeler\u2019s career; this new release, a collaboration between Dave Holland<\/strong>, Norma Winstone<\/strong>, and London Vocal Project<\/strong> under the direction of Pete Churchill<\/strong>, brings nine pieces, six of which are entirely new. It\u2019s a remarkable production and, to borrow Churchill\u2019s words, worth waiting for.<\/p>\n

With Norma Winstone\u2019s voice at the centre, woven through the textures provided by the London Vocal Project, there is a return to the sound of Mirrors, recorded with Wheeler himself in 2013. The material is, like Mirrors, mainly settings of poetry. Pete Churchill describes receiving the musical missives by post, sporadically, over Wheeler\u2019s last years.\u00a0 Churchill\u2019s craft, familiarity with Wheeler\u2019s writing, and gift for arranging alchemy have translated the mailed manuscripts into arrangements for Winstone, LVP, and the band of Dave Holland<\/strong> on bass, Nikki Iles<\/strong> on piano, and James Maddren<\/strong> on drums. Mark Lockheart<\/strong> on saxes and John<\/strong> Parricelli <\/strong>on guitar add further dimensions to the sound.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Wheeler\u2019s harmony, tantalising cadences and rhythmic shifts are so distinctive that on hearing any of these pieces the listener can be in no doubt as to the composer. These arrangements and the ensemble animate them with a special magic. On the setting of Stevie Smith\u2019s poem Not Waving But Drowning, an instant spell is cast by a simple pulsing motif, quietly articulated by sax and piano, over a descending bass, the faintest throb from guitar pushes it forward. The gradual swell of Winstone\u2019s voice and the rich textures of the choir giving way to Lockheart\u2019s swooping, long lines extending and expanding the mood before Paricelli takes it further, is a standout moment. The title track Vital Spark is a reworking of a Wheeler theme that appeared on a big band album, with lyrics added by Winstone. The heart-dropping harmonic shifts are quintessential Wheeler and evoke first a glowing exploration from Holland on bass who then hands a sinuous phrase on to Iles on piano, whose solo soars on the wings of the choir, another great moment. \u00a0There\u2019s treasure trove of such moments in the hour of music on this recording that repays repeated listening.<\/p>\n

Winstone is surely addressing Wheeler in her lyric on Vital Spark: <\/p>\n

\u00a0\u201cI wanted you to know, You cast a fearless glow, May all the love you share with us go with you.\u201d\u00a0 <\/p>\n

We can hear this album as a love letter to Wheeler from these musicians most of whom worked closely with him. It\u2019s also another gift to the world from Wheeler through the medium of this unique ensemble.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Mike Collins is a pianist and writer based in Bristol, who runs the jazzyblogman<\/a> site <\/p>\n

Release Date 20 Feb 2026<\/strong><\/p>\n

Dave Holland \u2013 Bass
Norma Winstone \u2013 Voice
Nikki Iles \u2013 Piano
James Maddren \u2013 Drums
Mark Lockheart \u2013 Tenor & Soprano Sax
John Parricelli \u2013 Guitar<\/p>\n

THE LONDON VOCAL PROJECT
Director: Pete Churchill <\/p>\n

Inner Traces
Will You Walk A Little Faster
Not Waving But Drowning
Jazzonia
Fuite D\u2019Enfance
Vital Spark
Infant Joy
Heavenly City
These are The Things We Trust<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"It\u2019s more than decade since Kenny Wheeler died and yet, hard on the heels of last year\u2019s Grammy…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":763620,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[3,4],"tags":[748,393,4884,1144,712,16,15,1764],"class_list":["post-763619","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-uk","category-united-kingdom","tag-britain","tag-england","tag-great-britain","tag-northern-ireland","tag-scotland","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-wales"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/116068100386171927","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/763619","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=763619"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/763619\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/763620"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=763619"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=763619"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=763619"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}