Norma Winstone

Born in Bow, in East London, and partly trained at Trinity Music College, Norma Winstone established herself from the late 1960s on the British jazz scene with a singing approach that privileges as much color, phrasing and improvisation as the text. Her music sits between modern jazz, European improvisation and chamber writing, with a voice often used as an instrument, capable of alternating revisited standards, wordless lines and texts she writes herself. After notable beginnings at Ronnie Scott's and within Michael Garrick's groups, Norma Winstone recorded Edge of Time in 1972 and also participated in projects by Joe Harriott, Amancio D’Silva, Nucleus, John Surman, Mike Westbrook or Michael Gibbs. Her career is closely tied to pianist John Taylor and trumpeter Kenny Wheeler, notably in the Azimuth trio, active on several albums between 1977 and 1995, where lyricism, rhythmic freedom and very open atmospheres cross. In parallel, Norma Winstone develops a personal discography marked, among others, by Somewhere Called Home (1987), Well Kept Secret (1995), Distances (2008), Stories Yet to Tell (2010), Dance Without Answer (2014), Descansado: Songs for Films (2018) and Outpost of Dreams (2024) with Kit Downes. Norma Winstone thus occupies a singular place in European jazz, at the junction of composition, improvisation and language work.