Kenny Wheeler

Windmill Tilter BGO *****

On CD for the first time, this Don Quixote suite written for John Dankworth's late 1960s big band marked Kenny Wheeler as a front-rank composer and orchestrator and affirmed his stature as a great soloist. Redolent of its era, yet head and shoulders above most of its British contemporaries, Windmill Tilterstill seems an outstanding work. Reflecting the subtly tangy lyricism of Wheeler's own playing, the writing is vivid and arresting, and the fecundity of ideas is dextrously coloured without drowning the dialogue between orchestra and soloists or the literary characters that inspired the writing. The solo load falls mostly on Wheeler's gorgeous flügelhorn and Tony Coe's individual tenor and clarinet, but in a stellar band there are also chances for John McLaughlin's guitar, Dankworth's alto and Chris Pyne's trombone. And Wheeler, 80 this year, remains a giant, as imaginative as ever. See bgo-records.com