And Still We Sing would be an outstanding album based purely on the sirenic power of its two outstanding lead vocalists, Fay Claassen and David Linx. Factor in the remarkable playing of the WDR Big Band, conducted by Magnus Lindgren, plus sumptuous big band arrangement by WDR tenor saxist (and album producer), Paul Heller, Lindgren, Bob Mintzer and Michael Abene, and you get something that’s close to perfection.

The duo revisit three songs – virtuosic album opener ‘Sum It Up (Disturbing the Peace)’, ‘Along Goes Betty’, Linx’s tribute to one of his most important touchstones, Betty Carter, plus the joyous ‘I Will Build Myself A Nation (Biding My Time)’, another Linx original – which they first recorded on their 2005 collaboration, One Heart, Three Voices, a recording which also featured vocalist Maria Pia De Vito.

It’s also a real treat to hear both vocalists as soloists, with Claassen’s crystalline timbre heard to moving effect in ‘Good Times’, arranged by Bob Mintzer, and in Abene’s inspired arrangement of Ellington’s ‘In a Sentimental Mood’, while Linx fires off a dazzling scat in ‘Tackle and Dabble’ and showcases his magisterial control of the melodic line in a standout reading of Ivan Lins’ ‘J’me Prépare’, with French lyrics by Linx.

If Ivan Paduart's ‘Waterfalls’ illustrates the striking compatibility of their respective vocal qualities, Claassen’s energising ‘Feel the Beat’ highlights the incredible rhythmic rapport between the two. The Heller ballad, ‘Rebirth’, again featuring lyrics by Linx, brings this magnificent album to a contemplative close.