The Infinity Orchestra’s concert in Bordeaux, France, captured on Transmigration must have been something to behold. Kahil El’Zabar, a mainstay of the Chicago avant-garde jazz scene, led a 39-member ensemble of French musicians that included 15 horns, three drummers and a couple of DJs. The recording, though, too often sounds like a partial reflection of that show rather than a faithful reproduction, like reading over notes on an event that you never attended.

The full-force of the massive ensemble doesn’t come across on the recording because of the muddled sound quality, and quieter passages lack clear definition. Some of the nearly half-hour songs such as “Speaking in Tongues,” are punctuated by stellar solos, yet outside a concert setting they feel too long and lack drama.

There are, though, many highlights and plenty of fiery playing from the soloists. The title track, with its soft, hypnotic vocal arpeggio and haunting atmosphere, is lovely and full of longing. And the concert ends with a highly charged take on “Return of the Lost Tribe,” a song that El’Zabar composed in 1978 and has returned to many times since.

A group this large sometimes sounds diffuse, but there are many moments of beauty that make Transmigration worth a listen.