Norma Winstone

British vocalist and lyricist Norma Winstone possesses a lissome, agile, and expressive alto, full of airy spaces, distinctly original phrasing, and moody textures. Winstone is a fine interpreter of lyrics and composed melody -- a plain-speaking, rhythmically direct singer who effectively gets to the heart of the matter. She broke out during the 1960s, collaborating with Michael Garrick, Mike Westbrook, and Neil Ardley. Edge of Time, her 1972 solo debut, won acclaim internationally. Between 1977 and 1994, she cut seven albums with trio Azimuth (alongside John Taylor and Kenny Wheeler) and worked with Ralph Towner and Tony Coe. She returned to the classic jazz repertoire in the '90s -- 1995's Well Kept Secret with Jimmy Rowles is a fine example. In the 21st century, Winstone recorded It's Later Than You Think with the NDR Big Band, and 2008's Distances with a trio that included Glauco Venier and Klaus Gesing. This group joined her on 2014's Dance Without Answer, and 2018's award-winning Descansado: Songs for Films. In 2022, she released The Soundless Dark with pianist Will Bartlett, and in 2024, Winstone and pianist Kit Downes teamed up for Outpost of Dreams. Born Norma Ann Short in East London, her family moved to Essex when she was ten. Winstone played piano and organ in her youth. She began singing semi-professionally at age 17, influenced by conventional and classic jazz vocalists. During the '60s she became attracted to the jazz avant-garde. She played in groups led by pianists Michael Garrick, Neil Ardley, Joe Harriot and Amancio D'Silva, 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 and collaborated with even after they divorced years later). A late-'60s gig at Ronnie Scott's club in London with the legendary multi-instrumentalist Roland Kirk garnered her critical notice in the music weeklies. 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, on the Decca label. Winstone formed Azimuth with Wheeler and Taylor, a critically acclaimed contemporary chamber jazz group that recorded several times on 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. In 1987 she made her ECM leader debut titled Somewhere Called Home. Winstone 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 of 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 and saxophonist Klaus Gesing. The following year, she collaborated with American director/composer John Cameron on the soundtrack for Psychomania. Winstone returned in 2006 with Amoroso... Only More So fronting the Stan Tracey trio and made her first recorded appearance with Germany's NDR Big Band titled It's Later Than You Think. Winstone collaborated with Venier and Gesing for two more albums, including 2008's Distances and 2010's Stories Yet to Tell. In 2013 Winstone delivered Mirrors with longtime collaborator Wheeler. The trio album Dance Without Answer, featuring Venier and Gesing, appeared on ECM in 2014, and they toured the U.K. and Europe. In 2018, Winstone released one of her most ambitious projects. Descansado: Songs for Films on ECM offered rearranged versions -- by Gesing and Venier -- of music by cinema composers including Nino Rota, Michel Legrand, Bernard Herrmann, and Ennio Morricone, and some tracks contained new lyrics by Winstone. Gesing and Venier returned for this project, augmented by Norwegian percussionist Helge Andreas Norbakken and Italian classical cellist Mario Brunello. Many of Winstone's early recorded appearances during the '60s were remastered, remixed, and released by various labels. In 2022, she and pianist/composer Will Bartlett issued The Soundless Dark. It included music by the pianist and words by British poet Philip Larkin (who hated jazz) sung by Winstone. Two years later she returned to ECM in collaboration with pianist/composer Kit Downes on Outpost of Dreams. It set her lyrics to compositions by the pianist, as well vocals to songs by Carla Bley, Towner, and Taylor. It also included jazz readings of two iconic folk songs, "Black Is the Colour" and "Rowing Home." ~ Chris Kelsey & Thom Jurek