Sometimes a recording is special not for its content but for what it signifies. This welcome, long-awaited first CD release reflects a time when big scale British jazz received serious appreciation (and serious money, this was an Arts Council commission). You can hear why fans get misty-eyed over Ardley's work: he draws deep on Brit romantic themes, decorating his work with a quirkiness and pastoral lyricism that Westbrook's anger, Gibbs' African/American influences and Collier's anarchy never embraced. From the distance of time, the suite that gives the release its title, ‘A Symphony Of Amaranths’ can feel over-arranged, the strings cloying, the themes as unclear as those blue remembered hills of youth. And Ivor Cutler remains an acquired taste. But Winstone's vocalising of three poems, most notably the rhythmic miracle of ‘Will You Walk A Little Faster’, is startling. Her youthful work here presages Mirrors, her current project with Kenny Wheeler and Pete Churchill. Savour the amaranth for the flower it was, but enjoy what blossoms now.