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Donald's Encyclopedia of Popular MusicA B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y ZAZIMUTHUK jazz trio: Norma Winstone (b 23 September 1941, London), vocals; John Taylor (b 25 September 1942, Manchester; d 17 July 2015), piano; Kenny Wheeler on trumpet. Winstone is a highly regarded jazz singer who has worked with Mike Westbrook and John Dankworth; Taylor, her husband, was a regular at Ronnie Scott's club '77, then formed this trio. Albums on ECM included Azimuth '77, The Touchstone '78, Départ '79 (with Ralph Towner on guitar); Azimuth '85 and then a long gap until How It Was Then ... Never Again '95, sounding as good as ever. Their original compositions are described as 'voice weaving with horn, ecstatic piano rhapsodies'. Winstone and Taylor had worked with Wheeler before; Taylor also recorded with Wheeler and Dave Holland '83. Winstone albums include Edge Of Time '72; for Somewhere Called Home '87 on ECM (accompanied by Taylor and Tony Coe) she wrote words to tunes by Wheeler, Towner, Egberto Gismonti, Bill Evans and Fran Landesman. Taylor and reedman Stan Sulzmann made a lovely duet album of Wheeler songs Everybody's Song But My Own? '87 on the Loose Tubes label. Azimuth plus drummer Tony Oxley and two others made Live At Roccella Jonica (Italy) '84 on Splasc(h). Winstone's Well Kept Secret '93 on Koch included Jimmy and Stacy Rowles, George Mraz, Joe LaBarbera on drums; 'A Timeless Place' was Rowles's 'The Peacocks' with words by Winstone. Quartet Fairplay with Winstone made Far To Go '92 on Grappa in Oslo; Jerome Wilson in Cadence heard 'sunny chamber music', 'an interesting mix of the cool and the hot'. A new Winstone album was Stories Yet To Tell 2010 on ECM, with Klaus Gesing on bass clarinet and soprano sax and Glauco Venier on piano. Taylor's death (a heart attack at the Saveurs Jazz Festival in France) caused his fans to wish that ECM had put more marketing muscle on his recordings. He deserved to be more celebrated internationally than he was. |