Jazz legends Dave Holland and Norma Winstone, together with the versatile London Vocal Project, present Vital Spark—an album featuring a collection of Kenny Wheeler’s final compositions that were sent over time to Pete Churchill and brought to life through patient arrangement, deep listening, and mutual trust.
Vital Spark captures a rare unity between jazz ensemble and choir, revealing a sound that’s both unforced, delicate, reflective and full of Kenny’s character and energy. The music features new lyrics by Norma Winstone, alongside Wheeler’s settings of poems by Stevie Smith, Lewis Carroll, and William Blake. The result is unmistakably Kenny Wheeler: lyrical but unsentimental, harmonically rich yet spacious. For Dave, Norma, and Pete, this project is not a retrospective but a personal, shared act of remembering and reinterpreting, shaped by decades of friendship, collaboration, and quiet reverence for one of the most singular voices in modern music.
released February 20, 2026 Norma Winstone - voice Dave Holland - bass Nikki Iles - piano James Maddren - Drums Mark Lockheart - tenor & soprano sax John Parricelli - guitar (on ‘Not Waving But Drowning, Jazzonia, Fuite D’Enfance, Infant Joy & Heavenly City)
THE LONDON VOCAL PROJECT Director: Pete Churchill Sopranos: Flora Medlicott Hannah Berry Katie Teage Milena Granci Aitzi Cofre Real Becca Wilkins Andi Hopgood Anni Delger Altos: Lilli Unwin Ineza Kerschkamp Immy Churchill Lydia Bell Jessica Radcliffe Nicole Petrus Barracks Ayesha Pike Nel Begley Eliana Veinberga Tenors: Chris Eldred Jeremy Shaverin Sebastian Singh Dominic Stichbury Basses: Pat Bamber Andrew Woolf Anthony Marsden Dani Teal Engineered by Alex Bonney and Marcus Locock with assistant engineers Luke Farnell and Tris Ellis Mixed by Alex Bonney and Dave Holland at The Red Room and Earconnector studios, London Mastered by Greg Calbi at Sterling Sound Album artwork by Oli Bentley, Split Additional photography by Alex Bonney Executive producer Dave Stapleton and Louise Holland
