''Azimuth '85'' is the fourth and penultimate album by British jazz trio

Azimuth An azimuth (; from ) is the horizontal angle from a cardinal direction, most commonly north, in a local or observer-centric spherical coordinate system. Mathematically, the relative position vector from an observer ( origin) to a point ...

recorded in March 1985 and released on

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later that year. The trio features pianist John Taylor, vocalist

Norma Winstone Norma Ann Winstone MBE (born 23 September 1941) is an English jazz singer and lyricist. With a career spanning more than 50 years, she is best known for her contributions to improvised vocal music. Musicians with whom she has worked include ...

, and trumpeter

Kenny Wheeler Kenneth Vincent John Wheeler, Order of Canada, OC (14 January 1930 – 18 September 2014) was a Canadian composer and trumpet and flugelhorn player, based in the U.K. from the 1950s onwards. Most of his performances were rooted in jazz, but he w ...

.ECM discography
accessed September 23, 2011

Reception

The

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review by Michael G. Nastos states, "It's an acquired taste, but if you do, you'll not let go."Nastos, M. G
Allmusic Review
accessed September 23, 2011 The ''

Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings ''The Penguin Guide to Jazz'' is a reference work containing an encyclopedic directory of jazz recordings on compact disc, CD which were (at the time of publication) currently available in Europe or the United States. The first nine editions wer ...

'' expressed disappointment, calling ''Azimuth '85'' "an unconfident step back", and stating the band "fell into the trap ... of letting a style become a manner". Tyran Grillo, writing for ECM blog ''Between Sound and Space'', called the album "Azimuth's zenith and another significant chapter of ECM’s backstory," and commented: "Essential for many reasons, not least of all for Taylor, who plays as if he were holding an inanimate body in his hands, tracing its every contour until it comes back to life."

Track listing

Personnel

Azimuth

* John Taylor – piano,

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– trumpet,

flugelhorn The flugelhorn (), also spelled fluegelhorn, flugel horn, or flügelhorn, is a brass instrument that resembles the trumpet and cornet, but has a wider, more conical bore. Like trumpets and cornets, most flugelhorns are pitched in B♭, though ...

– vocals

References

{{Authority control ECM Records albums Azimuth (band) albums 1985 albums Albums produced by Manfred Eicher