A jazz icon on our stage!

Accompanied by a quartet of extraordinary musicians.

Norma Winstone (UK): voce
Nikki Iles (UK): pianoforte
Mark Lockheart (UK): sax
Furio Di Castri: contrabbasso
Enzo Zirilli: batteria
Norma Winstone was born in London and first gained attention in the late 1960s when she shared the stage of Ronnie Scott's club with Roland Kirk. Although initially known for developing her own approach to wordless improvisation, her extraordinary versatility allows her to be equally comfortable with the repertoire of standards, performing with small groups, orchestras, and big bands. She has joined Mike Westbrook, Michael Garrick and sung with John Surman, Kenny Wheeler, Mike Gibbs and John Taylor and has worked extensively with many of the most prestigious European and American artists. In 1971 she was voted best singer in the Melody Maker Jazz Poll and later recorded her album "Edge of Time" for Decca, now re-released as a CD by the Dusk Fire label. In the late 1970s she joined pianist John Taylor and trumpeter Kenny Wheeler to form the group Azimuth, described by Richard Williams of The Times as "one of the most imaginatively conceived and delicately balanced contemporary chamber jazz groups". In this context, she combines the instrumental use of voice with words, most of which are written by herself. Azimuth has recorded several albums for the ECM label (the first three of which have been reissued in a CD box set). Their CD "How it was then... never again" was released in May 1995 and received four stars in Down Beat magazine. Her legendary album "Somewhere Called Home" for the ECM label is widely considered a classic. In recent years she has made a name for herself as an excellent lyricist, writing words to compositions by Ralph Towner and Brazilian composers Egberto Gismonti and Ivan Lins (who recorded the English lyrics of her song "Vieste"). She has a special affinity with the music of Steve Swallow and has written the lyrics to many of his compositions, most notably "Ladies in Mercedes", which has become a standard. Her voice has become an important part of the sound of Kenny Wheeler's big band, and can be heard in this context on the double ECM CD "Music for Large and Small Ensembles" which also features John Abercrombie, Dave Holland, Peter Erskine and John Taylor. Her CD "Well Kept Secret", recorded with legendary American pianist Jimmy Rowles, with George Mraz on bass and Joe La Barbera on drums, received a four-star rating from Down Beat magazine. Here Norma sings a selection of rare jazz standards, including Jimmy's famous song "The Peacocks" for which she wrote the lyrics and renamed "A Timeless Place". Since then, this song has been recorded by other artists including jazz singer Mark Murphy and The Swingle Singers. Her CD "Manhattan In The Rain", featuring pianist Steve Gray, bassist Chris Laurence and saxophonist Tony Coe, is composed of unusual and classic standards, described by Dave Gelly in The Observer as "A delightful set of songs... masterful and engaging." A CD of duo performances with pianist John Taylor entitled "Like Song, Like Weather" for the Enodoc label was described by Don Heckman of the Los Angeles Times as "... A superb example of avant-garde, imaginative singing, practically beyond definition."  With the American pianist Fred Hersch, she recorded a CD of Fred's compositions with her own lyrics: entitled "Songs and Lullabies", available in the United States on Sunnyside, and in England on the Enodoc label. Vibraphonist Gary Burton makes a guest appearance on three tracks. In the autumn of 2006 an album "It's Later than You Think" was released, with the wonderful big band of North German Radio, arranged and conducted by the great British writer Colin Towns, in conjunction with a British tour. This was followed by an album with the same band, "Here's A Song For You" which features an interesting collection of standards and contemporary songs arranged by the iconic Mike Gibbs. She was one of the stars of Gilles Peterson's acclaimed BBC 2 programme "Jazz Britannia", which featured influential music by British jazz musicians from the 1960s and 1970s, alongside contemporary jazz artists.  A double CD "Amoroso... only more so", featuring the trio Stan Tracey and saxophonist Bobby Wellins was released on the Trio label with five-star reviews... "This is the reinvention of standards, as it should be done," (John Fordham, The Guardian); "Winstone's voice and Wellins' tenor, which is very vocalized, seem to be made for each other... Pure class" (Ray Comiskey, The Irish Times). With Italian pianist Glauco Venier and German bass saxophonist/clarinetist Klaus Gesing she recorded four albums for the ECM label, the first of which, "Distances", was nominated for a Grammy. Their latest recording, "Descansado", consists of new arrangements of film music and features Italian cellist Mario Brunello and Norwegian percussionist Helge Andreas Norbakken.  Norma also works with Nikki Iles' group The Printmakers, which is made up of some of the UK's best musicians.