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
Discografia
21 album • Ordinato per Bestseller
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Stories Yet To Tell
Norma Winstone, Klaus Gesing, Glauco Venier
Jazz - Pubblicato da ECM Records il 20 ago 2010
La discografia ideale di Qobuz24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Descansado - Songs For Films
Norma Winstone, Glauco Venier, Klaus Gesing, Helge Andreas Norbakken, Mario Brunello
Vocal jazz - Pubblicato da ECM Records il 16 feb 2018
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Distances
Norma Winstone, Klaus Gesing, Glauco Venier
Jazz - Pubblicato da ECM Records il 11 mar 2008
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Somewhere Called Home
Norma Winstone, John Taylor, Tony Coe
Jazz - Pubblicato da ECM Records il 1 lug 1986
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
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Dance Without Answer
Norma Winstone, Glauco Venier, Klaus Gesing
Vocal jazz - Pubblicato da ECM Records il 17 gen 2014
24-Bit 88.2 kHz - Stereo -
Edge Of Time
Jazz contemporaneo - Pubblicato da Singsong Music il 1 mag 1972
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Amoroso... Only More So
Jazz contemporaneo - Pubblicato da Enodoc Records il 2 lug 2007
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Stories Yet To Tell
Norma Winstone, Klaus Gesing, Glauco Venier
Jazz - Pubblicato da ECM Records il 20 ago 2010
La discografia ideale di Qobuz24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Dance Without Answer
Norma Winstone, Glauco Venier, Klaus Gesing
Jazz - Pubblicato da ECM Records il 17 gen 2014
24-Bit 88.2 kHz - Stereo -
Manhattan in the Rain
Jazz - Pubblicato da Sunnyside il 29 giu 1998
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
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The Soundless Dark
Jazz - Pubblicato da Jellymould Jazz il 31 mar 2023
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Mirrors
Kenny Wheeler, Norma Winstone, London Vocal Project
Jazz - Pubblicato da Edition Records il 25 feb 2013
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Descansado - Songs For Films
Vocal jazz - Pubblicato da ECM Records il 16 feb 2018
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Like Song, Like Weather
Jazz - Pubblicato da Sunnyside il 26 ott 1998
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Chamber Music
Klaus Gesing, Norma Winstone, Glauco Venier
Jazz - Pubblicato da Tonspuren il 30 apr 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 - Pubblicato da Splasc(h) Records il 1 gen 1996
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
It's Later Than You Think
Norma Winstone, The NDR Bigband
Jazz - Pubblicato da Provocateur Records il 14 dic 2009
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Descansado (Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow) (From "Ieri, Oggi, Domani")
Jazz - Pubblicato da ECM Records il 19 gen 2018
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo