Norma Winstone's Timeless Voice Captured in 1990 Broadcast
The release of A Timeless Place brings to light a long-archived 1990 radio broadcast featuring the peerless English vocalist and lyricist Norma Winstone fronting Hanover's NDR Radio Orchestra. Winstone, who turned 80 in 2021 and remains in entrancing voice, has been celebrated for her confiding storytelling and soft power across a 60-year career. The album includes her much-covered lyric to pianist Jimmy Rowles' tune The Peacocks, titled A Timeless Place, which has been explored by artists like Mark Murphy, Jazzmeia Horn, and Cécile McLorin Salvant.
Lustrous Vocals and Surefooted Improvisation
Winstone's lustrous low sounds and vaulting octave leaps constantly mutate the implications of words, as heard in tracks like The Glide, where she guides wordless variations on guitarist Ralph Towner's skittish composition. She mischievously curveballs her sardonic lyric to Steve Swallow's Ladies in Mercedes, and delivers an exquisite account of I Loves You, Porgy that distils the song's confusion of resignation and hope. Her friend and collaborator Steve Gray's arrangements for an A-list band enhance the session, which captures the spirit Winstone once described: "I've always been on the edge, always felt like I was swimming against the tide and somehow couldn't stop."
Other Notable Jazz Releases This Month
Sangam & Friends (Blue Note) vivaciously joins recordings from a 2009 Mumbai concert by tabla master Zakir Hussain, saxophonist Charles Lloyd, and drummer Eric Harland with a contemporary version of their Sangam Trio. Dry-toned tenor lines and feathery flute musings cruise over racing tabla percussion and Harland's jazz-drums hustle, while Vijay Prakash's soaring voice enhances an enchanting east-west exchange. Richard Spaven's Light of Day (Edition) mingles jazz, avant-funk, Celtic inflections, and bluesy guitar with classy guests including trumpeter Nils Petter Molvær. Young Israeli virtuoso guitarist/bassist Tal Mashiach fuses Brazilian, Israeli, and Greek music on Who's Around? (Anzic), showcasing songlike composing skill.
