Norma Winstone
Norma Winstone has a lissome voice, agile and expressive, and she's a fine improviser as well. That's not to say she's a vocal athlete, however; although she's known for her wordless improvisations, Winstone is a fine interpreter of lyrics and composed melody -- a plain-speaking, rhythmically direct singer who gets to the heart of the matter quickly and effectively.
Winstone played piano and organ in her youth. She began singing semi-professionally by the age of 17, influenced by conventional jazz vocalists. During the '60s she became attracted to the jazz avant-garde. She played in groups led by pianists Michael Garrick and Mike Westbrook; she also sang with such forward-thinking musicians as saxophonist John Surman, flügelhornist Kenny Wheeler, composer Michael Gibbs, and pianist John Taylor (whom she married in 1972). A late-'60s gig at Ronnie Scott's club in London (also on the bill was the legendary tenor saxophonist Roland Kirk) garnered her critical notice. In 1971 she was named best jazz singer in a poll by the British publication Melody Maker. That year, she recorded her first album as leader, Edge of Time, for the Decca label. With Wheeler and Taylor, Winstone formed Azimuth, a critically acclaimed contemporary chamber jazz group that recorded several times for the ECM label starting in the mid-'70s. Winstone is also an accomplished lyricist, having written words to music composed by guitarists Egberto Gismonti and Ralph Towner, bassist Steve Swallow, and vocalist Ivan Lins, among others.
Winstone has also performed and/or recorded in ensembles with Jimmy Rowles, Lee Konitz, Tony Coe, Fred Hersch, John Abercrombie, Dave Holland, Peter Erskine, and George Mraz. In 1992, she collaborated with composer/arranger Steve Gray in the creation of "A French Folk Song Suite," commissioned and performed by the North German Radio big band. She is also a member of Wheeler's big band. In July 2002 she was awarded the title Best Vocalist at the BBC Jazz Awards at London's Queen Elizabeth Hall. That same year, she released the album Chamber Music with pianist Glauco Venier. Winstone returned in 2006 with Amoroso... Only More So featuring the Stan Tracey trio. Winstone then paired for two more albums with Venier, including 2007's Distances and 2009's Stories Yet to Tell. In 2013 Winstone delivered the album Mirrors with longtime collaborator Wheeler. The trio album Dance Without Answer, featuring Venier, appeared on ECM in 2014.
In 2018, Winstone issued one of her most ambitious projects in Descansado: Songs for Films for ECM. It offered re-arranged versions -- by Gesing and Venier -- of music by cinema composers Nino Rota, Michel Legrand, William Walton, Bernard Herrmann, and Ennio Morricone, some with new words by Winstone who, unknown to some, has been a sensitive and articulate lyricist throughout her career. For the project, the trio with Gesing and Venier was augmented by Norwegian percussionist Helge Andreas Norbakken and Italian classical cellist Mario Brunello.
© Chris Kelsey /TiVo
Discographie
21 album(s) • Trié par Meilleures ventes
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Descansado - Songs For Films
Norma Winstone, Glauco Venier, Klaus Gesing, Helge Andreas Norbakken, Mario Brunello
Jazz vocal - Paru chez ECM Records le 16 févr. 2018
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Stories Yet To Tell
Norma Winstone, Klaus Gesing, Glauco Venier
Jazz - Paru chez ECM Records le 20 août 2010
Discothèque Idéale Qobuz24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Distances
Norma Winstone, Klaus Gesing, Glauco Venier
Jazz - Paru chez ECM Records le 11 mars 2008
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
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Dance Without Answer
Norma Winstone, Glauco Venier, Klaus Gesing
Jazz vocal - Paru chez ECM Records le 17 janv. 2014
24-Bit 88.2 kHz - Stereo -
Somewhere Called Home
Norma Winstone, John Taylor, Tony Coe
Jazz - Paru chez ECM Records le 1 juil. 1986
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Edge Of Time
Jazz contemporain - Paru chez Singsong Music le 1 mai 1972
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Amoroso... Only More So
Jazz contemporain - Paru chez Enodoc Records le 2 juil. 2007
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Stories Yet To Tell
Norma Winstone, Klaus Gesing, Glauco Venier
Jazz - Paru chez ECM Records le 20 août 2010
Discothèque Idéale Qobuz24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Dance Without Answer
Norma Winstone, Glauco Venier, Klaus Gesing
Jazz - Paru chez ECM Records le 17 janv. 2014
24-Bit 88.2 kHz - Stereo -
Manhattan in the Rain
Jazz - Paru chez Sunnyside le 29 juin 1998
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Soundless Dark
Jazz - Paru chez Jellymould Jazz le 31 mars 2023
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
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Mirrors
Kenny Wheeler, Norma Winstone, London Vocal Project
Jazz - Paru chez Edition Records le 25 févr. 2013
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Descansado - Songs For Films
Jazz vocal - Paru chez ECM Records le 16 févr. 2018
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Like Song, Like Weather
Jazz - Paru chez Sunnyside le 26 oct. 1998
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Chamber Music
Klaus Gesing, Norma Winstone, Glauco Venier
Jazz - Paru chez Tonspuren le 30 avr. 2023
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Live at Roccella Jonica (Original Version)
Norma Winstone, Kenny Wheeler, Paolo Fresu, John Taylor, Paolo Damiani, Tony Oxley
Jazz - Paru chez Splasc(h) Records le 1 janv. 1996
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
It's Later Than You Think
Norma Winstone, The NDR Bigband
Jazz - Paru chez Provocateur Records le 14 déc. 2009
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Descansado (Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow) (From "Ieri, Oggi, Domani")
Jazz - Paru chez ECM Records le 19 janv. 2018
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo