Norma Winstone was born in London and first attracted attention in the late sixties when she shared the bill at Ronnie Scottâs club with Roland Kirk.
Although she began her career singing jazz standards, she became involved in the avant garde movement, exploring the use of the voice in an experimental way and evolving her own wordless approach to improvisation.
She joined groups led by Mike Westbrook, Michael Garrick and sang with John Surman, Kenny Wheeler, Michael Gibbs and John Taylor, and worked extensively with many of the major European names and visiting Americans.
In recent years she has become known as a very fine lyricist, writing words to compositions by Ralph Towner, and Brazilian composers Egberto Gismonti and Ivan Lins (who has recorded her English lyrics to his song âViesteâ). She has a special affinity with the music of Steve Swallow, and has written lyrics to many of his compositions, most notably âLadies in Mercedesâ, which has become a standard....
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Norma Winstone was born in London and first attracted attention in the late sixties when she shared the bill at Ronnie Scottâs club with Roland Kirk.
Although she began her career singing jazz standards, she became involved in the avant garde movement, exploring the use of the voice in an experimental way and evolving her own wordless approach to improvisation.
She joined groups led by Mike Westbrook, Michael Garrick and sang with John Surman, Kenny Wheeler, Michael Gibbs and John Taylor, and worked extensively with many of the major European names and visiting Americans.
In recent years she has become known as a very fine lyricist, writing words to compositions by Ralph Towner, and Brazilian composers Egberto Gismonti and Ivan Lins (who has recorded her English lyrics to his song âViesteâ). She has a special affinity with the music of Steve Swallow, and has written lyrics to many of his compositions, most notably âLadies in Mercedesâ, which has become a standard.
Her voice has become an important part of the sound of Kenny Wheelerâs big band, and can be heard in this context on the ECM double CD âMusic for Large and Small Ensemblesâ which also features John Abercrombie, Dave Holland, Peter Erskine and John Taylor.
Her CD âWell Kept Secretâ, recorded with the legendary American pianist Jimmy Rowles, featuring George Mraz on bass and Joe La Barbera on drums, was given a four star rating in Down Beat magazine. Here Norma sings a selection of rare jazz standards, including Jimmyâs famous tune âThe Peacocksâ for which she wrote lyrics and re-titled âA Timeless Placeâ. This piece has since been recorded by other artists including jazz singer Mark Murphy, and The Swingle Singers.
Her CD âManhattan In The Rainâ, with pianist Steve Gray, bassist Chris Laurence and special guest saxophonist Tony Coe consists of unusual and classic standards, described by Dave Gelly in The Observer as âA delectable set of songs⌠masterly and enthrallingâ.
A CD of duo performances with pianist John Taylor entitled âLike Song, Like Weatherâ on the Enodoc label was described by Don Heckman of the Los Angeles Times as ââŚa superb example of state-of-the-art, imaginative, virtually beyond-definition singingâ.
In July 2001, she won the title of Best Vocalist in the BBC Jazz Awards hosted by Humphrey Lyttleton at Londonâs Queen Elizabeth Hall.
With American pianist Fred Hersch, she recorded a CD of Fredâs compositions with her lyrics: called âSongs and Lullabiesâ, available in the US on Sunnyside, and in England on the Enodoc label. Vibraphonist Gary Burton makes a guest appearance on three tracks.
Her current group is a trio featuring Italian pianist Glauco Venier and German saxophonist/ bass clarinetist Klaus Gesing.
The trio was formed around twelve years ago when Glauco and Klaus, who were playing as a duo at the time, asked Norma to guest with them at a concert near Udine, in Northern Italy, Glaucoâs home town. A rapport between the three was immediately apparent. She realised that this was a group that had a very original sound which she wanted to develop. They made their first recording âChamber Musicâ, released by Universal, Austria, at the Artesuono Recording Studios in Udine in 2002. This is where they subsequently recorded their ECM album âDistancesâ, which was given a four and a half star review in Downbeat Magazine, had wonderful reviews in the German and English press.
The CD received an award as top Jazz Vocal CD from Academie Du Jazz in France and its crowning achievement was a Grammy nomination in the Jazz Vocal CD category of 2008.
Their follow up ECM recording âStories Yet to Tellâ was released in Autumn 2010 also to much critical acclaim.
A new collection of songs on the ECM label is in the pipeline for release later in 2013.
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