Norma Winstone was born and raised in London. She first gained attention when she performed on the Ronnie Scott’s night with Roland Kirk. She began her career singing jazz standards. However, she was drawn to avant-garde music, which explored the possibilities of using the voice in an experimental manner and developed her own wordsless approach to improvisation. She sang with Mike Westbrook and Michael Garrick, as well as John Surman, Kenny Wheeler and Michael Gibbs. She also worked extensively with many prominent European and American names. She was voted the top singer in the Melody Maker Jazz Poll 1971 and recorded her own album, “Edge of Time”, for Decca. This CD, although long lost, has been re-released on the Disconforme label. She formed the band AZIMUTH with pianist John Taylor, and Kenny Wheeler in the late seventies. Richard Williams of The Times described it as “one the most creatively conceived and delicately balanced contemporary chamber jazz ensembles” She combines the use of her voice and words in this setting. Most of these she wrote herself. AZIMUTH recorded many albums for the ECM label, including three CD boxes. Their May 1995 CD, “How It Was Then… Never Again”, received four stars from Down Beat magazine. Her legendary album “Somewhere Called Home” on the ECM label, is widely considered a classic. She has been a well-known lyricist in recent years, having written lyrics for Ralph Towner’s compositions, as well as Brazilian composers Egberto Gismonti and Ivan Lins. (She has also recorded his English lyrics to “Vieste”). Steve Swallow’s music is a favorite of hers and she has contributed lyrics to many of his songs, including ‘Ladies in Mercedes,’ which is now a standard. Her voice is an integral part of Kenny Wheeler’s big band sound and can be heard on the ECM double CD “Music for Large and Small Ensembles” which includes John Abercrombie and Dave Holland as well as Peter Erskine and John Taylor. The Down Beat magazine gave her CD, ‘Well Kept Secret,’ a four-star rating. It was recorded with Jimmy Rowles, an American legend, and features Joe La Barbera on drums and George Mraz on bass. Here, Norma sings a few rare jazz standards including Jimmy’s ‘The Peacocks’ song for which she wrote the lyrics. This song has been recorded by jazz singer Mark Murphy and The Swingle Singers. Her CD ‘Manhattan In The Rain’ features Steve Gray, Chris Laurence, and Tony Coe as special guests. It includes a variety of classic and unusual songs. Dave Gelly of The Observer described it as “a delectable set… masterly, and enthralling”. Don Heckman, Los Angeles Times, described the Enodoc label’s CD of duo performances featuring John Taylor and pianist as “…a stunning example of state-of the-art, imaginative, almost beyond-definition singing. She was awarded the title of Best Vocalist at the BBC Jazz Awards, hosted by Humphrey Lyttleton at London’s Queen Elizabeth Hall in July 2001. She recorded a CD with Fred Hersch, an American pianist, of Fred’s compositions and her lyrics. It was called “Songs and Lullabies” and is available in the US and England on Sunnyside and on Enodoc. Three tracks feature Gary Burton, vibraphonist. To coincide with a British tour, a recording of ‘It’s Later than You Think’ was released with the amazing North German Radio big band under Colin Towns. To five-star ……. reviews, she was featured on Gilles Peterson’s ‘Jazz Britannia” programme, which aired on BBC 2. “This is standards-reinvention as it should be done” John Fordham, The Guardian. “Winstone’s voice is a perfect match for Wellins’ high-pitched tenor Ray Comiskey, The Irish Times. Sheer class. She is still at the forefront of British Jazz and was again nominated in the BBC Jazz Awards 2007 and 2008. In 2007, she was presented with an MBE by the Queen’s Birthday Honours List. She was presented with the Skoda Jazz Ahead award in Bremen in 2009 for her contributions to European Jazz. from http://www.normawinstone.com
