Norma Winstone -

Norma Winstone (born Sept. 23, 1941) is an English jazz singer and lyricist from London who began her recording career with three vocals on the 1969 album Hum Dono by Joe Harriott & Amancio D’Silva Quartet. In 1970, she sang on the albums Love Songs by the Mike Westbrook Concert Band and The Heart Is a Lotus by the Michael Garrick Sextet, earning a featured credit on the latter. The following year, she appeared on Westbrook’s Metropolis and Garrick’s Mr Smith’s Apocalypse in addition to the album Pause, and Think Again by her pianist husband John Taylor.

In 1972, Winstone released her first headlining album, Edge of Time, on the Argo label. That same year, she appeared on pianist Neil Ardley‘s A Symphony of Amaranths. The subsequent three-year period saw her credited on titles by Ian Carr’s Nucleus, Fischer & Epstein, Don Harper, Roger Whittaker, Brian Patten, and Canadian trumpeter Kenny Wheeler. Between 1977 and 1995, she recorded five album with Taylor and Wheeler in the ECM trio Azimuth. In 1979, she collaborated with German super-combo Jazz Track on the album Flying Stork.

Background

Norma Winstone was born on September 23, 1941, in London. She entered the jazz scene with a sit-in performance witnessed by drummer John Stevens, who had her audition at Ronnie Scott’s, which booked her for a month opposite Roland Kirk. Ian Carr next introduced her to Neil Ardley, who brought her into the New Jazz Orchestra. Elswhere, Mike Westbrook recruited her for the Earthrise ensemble. In 1969, Winstone sang three pieces on the Joe Harriott–Amancio D’Silva album Hum Dono. Pianist Michael Garrick then recruited her as a featured member of his sextet.

The Heart Is a Lotus

In 1970, Argo Records released The Heart Is a Lotus, an album co-billed to the Michael Garrick Sextet and Norma Winstone.

Garrick wrote all eight pieces and featured Winstone on six, reserving “Torrent” and “Rustat’s Grave Song” for instrumental lineups. Drummer Trevor Tomkins joins Garrick throughout. Trumpeter Ian Carr and reedist Art Themen recur across the set. Reedists Don Rendell and Jim Philip enter selected titles, while Dave Green and Coleridge Goode divide bass duties.

“The Heart Is a Lotus” circles an 11/8 swing as Winstone threads difficult contours through harpsichord, muted brass, and spare call-and-response phrases. “Song by the Sea” glides at a measured rate, pairing a sung poem with gentle ensemble support and flute filigree. “Temple Dancer” coils through a marching figure while Winstone extends wordless cries above sinuous reed lines.

“Blues on Blues” eases from a bright opening into a slower passage before Winstone rises against a trumpet surge. “Rustat’s Grave Song” advances with march-like steps, then recedes into widely separated harmonies and a mournful final descent.

A1. “The Heart Is a Lotus” (8:22)
A2. “Song by the Sea” (4:30)
A3. “Torrent” (3:46)
A4. “Temple Dancer” (10:01)

B1. “Blues on Blues” (6:52)
B2. “Voices” (6:51)
B3. “Beautiful Thing” (5:31)
B4. “Rustat’s Grave Song” (4:50)

Sessions occurred on January 20–22, 1970, at Decca Studios in Hampstead with producer Frederick Woods and engineer Kevin Daly. Woods also produced the Argo album January Man by Dave Goulder and Liz Dyer, which Daly engineered.

British jazz photographer Valerie Wilmer supplied the photography. The front combines a large flower, a bird, and ornamental border patterns. Wilmer also photographed the back cover of the 1970 Argo album January Man.

1970–72 Session Work

Norma Winstone joined Mike Westbrook on Love Songs and Metropolis and returned to Garrick for Mr Smith’s Apocalypse. John Taylor featured her on Pause, and Think Again, while Neil Ardley included her on A Symphony of Amaranths. Melody Maker readers voted her top singer in the 1971 jazz poll, prompting Decca to offer a solo album through Argo.

Edge of Time

Norma Winstone released her debut album, Edge of Time, in 1972 on Argo.

The personnel shifts from a trio to a ten-player group across the seven tracks. Pianist John Taylor and saxophonist John Surman recur across the changing ensembles. Bassist Chris Laurence and drummer Tony Levin support the smaller units, while trumpeter Kenny Wheeler enters larger lineups. Taylor and Surman arranged five pieces. John Warren arranged “Perkins Landing,” while Neil Ardley handled “Song of Love.”

“Edge of Time” whispers through a tentative singer–trombone duet above rippling electric piano and vibraphone figures, then unfurls into broad ensemble phrases. “Perkins Landing” settles into spacious lines as Winstone floats wordless passages around a sustained solo. “Enjoy This Day” pivots from glassy lyric delivery to open improvisation, with uncluttered ensemble figures and a trumpet reply.

“Erebus (Son of Chaos)” ascends from an airy flute entrance into strident brass, ululation, electric guitar, and a repeated closing riff. “Songs for a Child” glides from a light opening into wordless phrases beside soprano saxophone. “Shadows” breaks from a hesitant entrance into brisk ensemble phrases and a deft horn solo. “Song of Love” resolves as a gentle, unhurried close with spare chamber accompaniment.

A1. “Edge of Time” (4:37) – Taylor–Winstone
A2. “Perkins Landing” (6:27) – Warren–Winstone
A3. “Enjoy This Day” (10:22) – Taylor–Winstone

B1. “Erebus (Son of Chaos)” (8:23) – Surman
B2. “Songs for a Child” (2:45) – Taylor–Winstone
B3. “Shadows” (7:48) – Surman
B4. “Song of Love” (3:25) – Mike Taylor

Sessions took place in London in 1972 with producer Peter Eden and recording engineer Terry Evennett. Eden also produced Tanglewood 63 by Michael Gibbs, which Evennett remixed.

Cover artist Terry Eden designed the sleeve around a pale blue-green landscape with a suspended oval, a descending droplet, and angular rock forms. Eden later supplied the artwork and design for the 1975 Duck Baker debut There’s Something for Everyone in America.

Dusk Fire restored the album on CD in 2014, followed by a Singsong digital edition.

1973–76 Session Work

Between Edge of Time and Azimuth, Winstone recorded with Nucleus and Fischer & Epstein. Don Harper and Roger Whittaker featured her on separate projects. Brian Patten and Kenny Wheeler also recruited her for recordings. Her collaboration with Wheeler continued through their ECM trio.

Azimuth

Norma Winstone and John Taylor recorded duo tapes built from her vocal and his keyboard parts, then submitted them to labels. ECM producer Manfred Eicher heard a synthesizer loop and proposed Kenny Wheeler as a third member. Taylor found the name Azimuth while searching for a title linked to travel and direction. From the self-titled debut through How It Was Then… Never Again, ECM issued five Azimuth albums across the 1977–95 span.

Flying Stork

Jazz Track and Norma Winstone released Flying Stork in 1979 on EMI Electrola in Germany.

The quintet retains one lineup across both sides. Saxophonist Wolfgang Engstfeld and pianist Christoph Spendel join Winstone, with bassist Sigi Busch and drummer Heinrich Hock completing the group.

A1. “Flying Stork” (13:05) – Engstfeld
A2. “Sugar Bass” (7:00) – Busch
B1. “Rugby” (9:20) – Busch
B2. “Mother Lou” (6:50) – Busch

Jazz Track recorded the album in November 1978 at Rüssl Studio in Hamburg, with Geoff Peacey as engineer and Walter Quintus as mixer. The original LP identifies no producer. Peacey also engineered the 1979 Lake album Paradise Island at Rüssl.

Cover artists Barbara Kuball and Bruno Lefeldt shared the sleeve design and illustration. The white front carries a small color panel with storks above green reeds and blue water. Lefeldt also designed the 1978 Leszek Zadlo Ensemble album Time Emit.

Somewhere Called Home

Norma Winstone released her second solo album, Somewhere Called Home, in February 1987 on ECM.

Pianist John Taylor and clarinetist–tenor saxophonist Tony Coe complete the trio. Winstone supplied texts for compositions by Egberto Gismonti and Kenny Wheeler. Her words also accompany pieces by Bill Evans and Ralph Towner. Songs by Pat Smythe and Sergio Mihanovich join three standards.

“Café” drifts through sustained piano tones as Winstone braids wordless phrases with clarinet in close harmony. “Somewhere Called Home” enters through Coe–Taylor unison, then lets her lilting line yield to a compact Taylor solo. “Sea Lady” glides over an undulating figure as phrases hover above steady rise and fall. “Some Time Ago” opens on a mournful reed cry before Winstone traces a broad span between Coe and Taylor solos.

“Celeste” suspends phrases between silences, then rises toward a clear high note as all three performers meet at a summit. “Out of This World” lingers in an eerie rubato setting with brief wordless turns. “Tea for Two” slows almost to stillness, where measured lyric placement leads into a long tenor solo.

A1. “Café” (7:56) – Gismonti–Winstone
A2. “Somewhere Called Home” (4:22) – Smythe–Landesman
A3. “Sea Lady” (4:23) – Wheeler–Winstone
A4. “Some Time Ago” (5:38) – Mihanovich–Busby
A5. “Prologue” (3:58) – Evans–Winstone

B1. “Celeste” (6:12) – Towner–Winstone
B2. “Hi Lili Hi Lo” (4:28) – Kaper–Deutsch
B3. “Out of This World” (5:55) – Arlen–Mercer
B4. “Tea for Two” (4:55) – Youmans–Caesar

Producer Manfred Eicher and engineer Jan Erik Kongshaug recorded the trio at Rainbow Studio in Oslo in July 1986 for ECM. Eicher and Kongshaug reconvened at Rainbow that November for Blue by Terje Rypdal and the Chasers.

German graphic designer Barbara Wojirsch built the sleeve around a monochrome cover image by photographer Caroline Forbes, which places a distant stone viaduct across a snow-covered plain beneath a dark sky. Wojirsch also designed the 1987 Gary Peacock album Guamba; Forbes supplied cover photographs for the 1990 Sidsel Endresen ECM release So I Write.

ECM returned the album to CD in September 2008 as part of the Touchstones series.

Discography: