US alto-saxophonist Cornelius is a semi-regular visitor to Britain, often at the behest of bassist Mike Janisch and it’s on the latter’s Whirlwind label that Cornelius’s new suite is released. Having lately seen it performed with just two of the players who appear on this launch album – the rest were UK-based musicians – it’s instructive to hear the New York version. Cornelius was commissioned by Chamber Music America to create a piece and took the poems of A.A. Milne as his starting-point, having known them since childhood and produced this six-part suite. In person, he recited the poem that each part prompted as a preliminary to the performance, on the record he does not and that seems a shame, given his essentially programmatic responses. Each movement is thoughtfully orchestrated, the ensemble passages often lyrical, sometimes momentarily agitated with motifs that ebb and flow. Thus, the lovely ‘Water Lilies’ opens with elegiac piano and conveys its mood of quiet movement via Palmer’s relaxed trumpet and Cornelius’ elegant soprano, while ‘Sand Between the Toes’ uses his alto to reprise a neat theme, ahead of Vayenas’ rather acrid trombone solo. ‘Jonathan Jo’ is perkier, trombone to the fore in the ensemble writing, with Ellis zig-zagging over Scott’s rackety drums before Clayton’s imperious piano. ‘The Invaders’ opens with an engaging bass-clarinet melody over Slavov’s bass, the ensemble development quietly stated and nicely harmonised, Ellis again prominent, this time with solo bass-clarinet. The briefer ‘Lines and Squares’ is boppish almost, with Ozaki in duet with Scott, Cornelius on alto and Vayenas taking a frenzied line, ahead of the final ‘Vespers’. This uses Clayton’s child-like piano motif to set the mood as Palmer’s clarion trumpet oversees the near-chaotic re-assembling of the ensemble and Cornelius emerges, threading his path carefully through, Scott rhythmically agitated before Ozaki restores calm. Cornelius has created a work of genuine substance, the writing often complex, multi-layered yet always adroit, deploying his resources well, the melodic moments often memorable, the solo excursions largely pleasing, the effect at times like a miniature Schneider ensemble. Cornelius is a talent worth watching. NB: add a graphics star for the fine album design by Alban Low.