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 Michael Garrick,

John Surman John Douglas Surman (born 30 August 1944) is an English jazz saxophone, Clarinet family, clarinet, and synthesizer player, and composer of free jazz and modal jazz, often using themes from folk music. He has composed and performed music for danc ...

, Michael Gibbs, Mike Westbrook, as well as pianist John Taylor, who was her former husband.

Biography

Early years and education

Born as Norma Ann Short in Bow,

East London East London is the part of London, England, east of the ancient City of London and north of the River Thames as it begins to widen. East London developed as London Docklands, London's docklands and the primary industrial centre. The expansion of ...

, England, she was 10 years old when her family moved to

Dagenham Dagenham () is a town in East London, England, within the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham. Dagenham is centred east of Charing Cross. It was historically a rural parish in the Becontree Hundred of Essex, stretching from Hainault Fo ...

Essex Essex ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England, and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Kent across the Thames Estuary to the ...

.Odeen-Isbister, Sara (5 October 2012)
"Jazz star Norma Winstone on growing up in Dagenham"
'' Barking and Dagenham Post''. Encouraged by her primary school teacher, she applied for and won a scholarship to attend Saturday-school at Trinity Music College, and after passing her 11-plus exams, she went to Dagenham County High School (where

Dudley Moore Dudley Stuart John Moore (19 April 193527 March 2002) was an English actor, comedian, musician and composer. He first came to prominence in the UK as a leading figure in the British satire boom of the 1960s. He was one of the four writer-perf ...

was then a senior pupil). Like Moore, her music teacher there was Peter Cork (1926–2012). At the age of 17, she discovered jazz, listening to

Ella Fitzgerald Ella Jane Fitzgerald (April25, 1917June15, 1996) was an American singer, songwriter and composer, sometimes referred to as the "First Lady of Song", "Queen of Jazz", and "Lady Ella". She was noted for her purity of tone, impeccable diction, phra ...

and

Oscar Peterson Oscar Emmanuel Peterson (August 15, 1925 – December 23, 2007) was a Canadian jazz pianist and composer. As a virtuoso who is considered to be one of the greatest Jazz piano, jazz pianists of all time, Peterson released more than 200 recordin ...

being played on

Radio Luxembourg Radio Luxembourg was a multilingual commercial broadcaster in Luxembourg. It is known in most non-English languages as RTL (for Radio Television Luxembourg). The English-language service of Radio Luxembourg began in 1933 as one of the earlies ...

Career

Winstone began singing in bands around Dagenham in the early 1960s, and has said of her early experiences: "I've always been on the edge, always felt like I was swimming against the tide and somehow couldn't stop. I met a pianist called Chris Goody and we'd get together and play things. He knew

Margaret Busby Margaret Yvonne Busby, , Hon. FRSL (born 1944), also known as Nana Akua Ackon, is a Ghanaian-born publisher, editor, writer and broadcaster, resident in the UK. She was Britain's then youngest publisher as well as the first black female book p ...

who was in a publishing company called Alison and Busby. She also wrote lyrics for tunes like '

Naima "Naima" ( ) is a jazz ballad composed by John Coltrane in 1959 that he named after his then-wife, Juanita Naima Grubbs. Coltrane first recorded it for his 1959 album '' Giant Steps'', and it became one of his first well-known works. History Co ...

'. I was inspired by her, though I didn't write words myself at that time, I didn't think I could." Winstone first attracted attention when in the late 1960s she appeared at Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club sharing the bill with

Roland Kirk Roland (; ; or ''Rotholandus''; or ''Rolando''; died 15 August 778) was a Frankish military leader under Charlemagne who became one of the principal figures in the literary cycle known as the Matter of France. The historical Roland was mil ...

. Interviewed in 2020, she said: "I went along to a gig at the Charlie Chester Club and I sat in with a drummer called John Stevens and he was incredibly enthusiastic and jumped up and said, 'I'm going to tell

Ronnie Scott Ronnie Scott Order of the British Empire, OBE (born Ronald Schatt; 28 January 1927 – 23 December 1996) was a British jazz Tenor saxophone, tenor saxophonist and jazz club owner. He co-founded Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club in London's Soho district ...

about you, he should give you an audition!' ... Eventually, I went to the club, and after reminding Ronnie that eight months before he promised to invite me for an audition, we got it and he gave me four weeks there opposite Roland Kirk. I think I was on cloud nine...." This led to her first radio BBC broadcast, which by chance was heard by singer

Carmen McRae Carmen Mercedes McRae (April 8, 1920 – November 10, 1994) was an American jazz singer. She is considered one of the most influential jazz vocalists of the 20th century and is remembered for her behind-the-beat phrasing and ironic interpretati ...

on a visit from the US, who met Winstone and was interviewed for a jazz magazine with her. Winstone joined Michael Garrick's band in 1968. Her first recording came the following year, with Joe Harriott and Amancio D'Silva, on ''Hum-Dono'' (reissued in 2015). In 1971, she was voted top singer in the ''

Melody Maker ''Melody Maker'' was a British weekly music magazine, one of the world's earliest music weeklies; according to its publisher, IPC Media, the earliest. In January 2001, it was merged into "long-standing rival" (and IPC Media sister publicatio ...

'' Jazz Poll, and she recorded the album ''Edge of Time'', the first under her own name, in 1972. Interviewed in 2023, she recalled: "I decided that I would include as many of my friends as possible! So the tracks went from trio to 10 piece groups. There was no real musical concept behind it; just the opportunity to record in different settings. I guess it was a very unusual recording for the time and gave me the opportunity to explore different settings. Also it gave me the chance to get some arrangements by John Taylor,

and John Warren." Winstone contributed vocals to Ian Carr's Nucleus on that band's 1973 release ''Labyrinth'', a jazz-rock

concept album A concept album is an album whose tracks hold a larger purpose or meaning collectively than they do individually. This is typically achieved through a single central narrative or theme, which can be instrumental, compositional, or lyrical. Som ...

based on the Greek myth about the

Minotaur In Greek mythology, the Minotaur (, ''Mīnṓtauros''), also known as Asterion, is a mythical creature portrayed during classical antiquity with the head and tail of a bull and the body of a man or, as described by Roman poet Ovid, a being "par ...

. Winstone has worked with many major European musicians and visiting Americans, as well as with most of her peers in British jazz, including Garrick,

, Michael Gibbs, Mike Westbrook and her former husband, the pianist John Taylor. With Taylor 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 ...

she performed and recorded three albums for ECM as a member of the 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 ...

between 1977 and 1980; their fifth and last album ''How It Was Then… Never Again'' (1995) was given four stars by ''

DownBeat ''DownBeat'' (styled in all caps) is an American music magazine devoted to "jazz, blues and beyond", the last word indicating its expansion beyond the jazz realm that it covered exclusively in previous years. The publication was established in 1 ...

'' magazine. Her own 1987 album '' Somewhere Called Home'', also released on the ECM label, has often been called "a classic". The review by

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

said: "It's not only a watermark of Winstone's career but, in the long line of modern vocal outings released since the romantic vocal tradition of Fitzgerald and

Vaughan Vaughan ( ) (2022 population 344,412) is a city in Ontario, Canada. It is located in the Regional Municipality of York, just north of Toronto. Vaughan was the fastest-growing municipality in Canada between 1996 and 2006 with its population increa ...

ended with free jazz and fusion, the disc stands out as one most original yet idyllic of vocal jazz recordings. ... A must for fans looking for something as cozy as a golden age chanteuse, but without all the gymnastic scatting and carbon copy ways of many a contemporary jazz singer." In addition, she made albums with the American pianists Jimmy Rowles – ''Well Kept Secret'', recorded in 1993 – and

Fred Hersch Fred Hersch (born October 21, 1955) is an American jazz pianist, composer, and a 17-time Grammy nominée. He was the first person to play weeklong engagements as a solo pianist at the Village Vanguard in New York City. He has recorded more than ...

. On ''Well Kept Secret'' Winstone sang lyrics she had written to Rowles' composition "The Peacocks", which she had heard on the

Bill Evans William John Evans (August 16, 1929 – September 15, 1980) was an American Jazz piano, jazz pianist and composer who worked primarily as the leader of his trio. His use of impressionist harmony, block chords, innovative chord voicings, a ...

album '' You Must Believe in Spring'' (1981). With the title "A Timeless Place", Winstone's lyrics were subsequently recorded by others, including Mark Murphy. Well respected as a lyricist, she has also written words to tunes by

Ralph Towner Ralph Towner (born March 1, 1940) is an American multi-instrumentalist, composer, arranger and bandleader. He plays the twelve-string guitar, classical guitar, piano, synthesizer, percussion, trumpet and French horn. Biography Towner was born i ...

Egberto Gismonti Egberto Amin Gismonti (born 5 December 1947) is a Brazilian composer, guitarist and pianist. Biography Gismonti was born in the small city of Carmo, Rio de Janeiro, Carmo, state of Rio de Janeiro (state), Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, into a music ...

, Ivan Lins,

Steve Swallow Steve Swallow (born October 4, 1940) is an American jazz bassist and composer, known for his collaborations with Jimmy Giuffre, Gary Burton, and Carla Bley. He was one of the first jazz double bassists to switch entirely to electric bass guitar. ...

, and other musicians. Her vocal style includes singing lyric-less passages, about which she has said: "I feel that there are some pieces that do not benefit from adding lyrics.... Adding words tells the listener what the piece is about, and sometimes it's good to leave interpretation of a piece to the listeners to make what they like of it. I have always heard the voice as an instrument, the most personal instrument, which has the added dimension of being able to deliver a lyric." In 2001, Winstone was honoured as "Best Vocalist" in the BBC Jazz Awards, also being nominated in 2007 and 2008. In February 2018, Winstone released ''Descansado: Songs for Films'', a collection that

described as "an unusual and provocative album". In 2019, Enodoc Records released the CD ''In Concert'', a remastered recording of an August 1988 performance by Winstone and her ex-husband John Taylor at London's

Guildhall School of Music and Drama The Guildhall School of Music and Drama is a music school, music and drama school located in the City of London, England. Established in 1880, the school offers undergraduate and postgraduate training in all aspects of classical music and jazz al ...

, including music by

Leonard Bernstein Leonard Bernstein ( ; born Louis Bernstein; August 25, 1918 – October 14, 1990) was an American conductor, composer, pianist, music educator, author, and humanitarian. Considered to be one of the most important conductors of his time, he was th ...

, Steve Swallow, Egberto Gismonti, Ralph Towner and

Dave Brubeck David Warren Brubeck (; December 6, 1920 – December 5, 2012) was an American jazz pianist and composer. Often regarded as a foremost exponent of cool jazz, Brubeck's work is characterized by unusual time signatures and superimposing contrasti ...

, among others, with lyrics by Winstone herself,

Johnny Mercer John Herndon Mercer (November 18, 1909 – June 25, 1976) was an American lyricist, songwriter, and singer, as well as a record label executive who co-founded Capitol Records with music industry businessmen Buddy DeSylva and Wallichs Music Cit ...

and

. Awarding four stars to this collaboration between Winstone and Taylor, Roger Farbey of ''

All About Jazz ''All About Jazz'' is a website established by Michael Ricci in 1995. A volunteer staff publishes news, album reviews, articles, videos, and listings of concerts and other events having to do with jazz. Ricci maintains a related site, ''Jazz Near ...

'' wrote: "What ''In Concert'' demonstrates above all else is the extraordinarily synergistic relationship that this virtuosic pair shared." In 2023, Winstone's vocal from Azimuth's 1977 album track "The Tunnel" was sampled by rapper

Drake Drake may refer to: Animals and creatures * A male duck * Drake (mythology), a term related to and often synonymous with dragon People and fictional characters * Drake (surname), a list of people and fictional characters with the family ...

in his song " IDGAF" on his album ''

For All The Dogs ''For All the Dogs'' is the eighth studio album by the Canadian rapper Drake. It was released by OVO Sound and Republic Records on October 6, 2023. The album features guest appearances from Teezo Touchdown, 21 Savage, J. Cole, Yeat, SZA, Par ...

''.

Personal life

In 1972, Winstone married pianist John Taylor, whom she had met in 1966; they divorced after some years, although they later continued their musical partnership. Their two sons, Alex and Leo, are both musicians.

Awards and honours

* 1971: voted top singer in the ''

'' Jazz Poll * 2001: "Best Vocalist" in BBC Jazz Awards * 2007: MBE in the Queen's Birthday Honours * 2009: Skoda Jazz Ahead Award in

Bremen Bremen (Low German also: ''Breem'' or ''Bräm''), officially the City Municipality of Bremen (, ), is the capital of the States of Germany, German state of the Bremen (state), Free Hanseatic City of Bremen (), a two-city-state consisting of the c ...

for contribution to European Jazz * 2010: London Awards for Art and Performance * 2010: Lifetime Achievement Jazz Medal from the Worshipful Company of Musicians * 2010: Honorary Fellow at Trinity Laban Conservatoire * 2013: Honorary Member of the

Royal Academy of Music The Royal Academy of Music (RAM) in London, England, is one of the oldest music schools in the UK, founded in 1822 by John Fane and Nicolas-Charles Bochsa. It received its royal charter in 1830 from King George IV with the support of the firs ...

* 2015: Jazz Vocalist of the Year, Parliamentary Jazz Awards * 2015: BASCA Gold Badge Award"2015 Gold Badge Award Recipients Revealed"
''M Magazine'', 16 September 2015. * 2017: Jazz FM Award for Vocalist of the year

Discography

As leader

* ''Edge of Time'' (

Argo In Greek mythology, the ''Argo'' ( ; ) was the ship of Jason and the Argonauts. The ship was built with divine aid, and some ancient sources describe her as the first ship to sail the seas. The ''Argo'' carried the Argonauts on their quest fo ...

, 1972) * ''Live at Roncella Jonica'', with Kenny Wheeler (Izemz/Polis, 1985) * '' Somewhere Called Home'' (ECM, 1987) * ''M.A.P.'', with John Wolfe Brennan (L+R, 1990) * ''Far to Go'' (Grappa, 1993) * ''Well Kept Secret'' (Hot House, 1995) * ''Siren's Song'', with Kenny Wheeler (Justin Time, 1997) * ''Manhattan in the Rain'' (Sunnyside, 1998) * ''Like Song, Like Weather'', with John Taylor (Koch, 1999) * ''Songs & Lullabies'', with Fred Hersch (Sunnyside, 2003) * ''Chamber Music'' (EmArcy, 2003) * ''It's Later Than You Think'' with the NDR Big Band (Provocateur, 2006) * ''Children of Time'', with Michael Garrick (Jazz Academy, 2006) * ''Amoroso... ..Only More So'', with Stan Tracey (Trio, 2007) * ''Distances'' (ECM, 2008) * ''Yet Another Spring'', with Michael Garrick (Jazz Academy, 2009) * ''Stories Yet to Tell'' (ECM, 2010) * ''Mirrors'' with Kenny Wheeler (Edition, 2013) * ''Dance Without Answer'' (ECM, 2014) * ''Descansado: Songs for Films'' (ECM, 2018) * ''In Concert'', with John Taylor, 1988 (Enodoc Records, 2019) * '' Outpost of Dreams'', with Kit Downes (ECM, 2024) With

* ''

'' ( ECM, 1977) * '' The Touchstone'' (ECM, 1978) * '' Départ'' (with

) (ECM, 1979) * '' Azimuth '85'' (ECM, 1985) * '' How It Was Then... Never Again'' (ECM, 1995)

As guest

With Neil Ardley * ''Harmony of the Spheres'' (Decca, 1979) With Joe Harriott and Amancio D'Silva * ''Hum-Dono '' (Columbia UK, 1969) With Nucleus * ''

Labyrinth In Greek mythology, the Labyrinth () is an elaborate, confusing structure designed and built by the legendary artificer Daedalus for King Minos of Crete at Knossos. Its function was to hold the Minotaur, the monster eventually killed by the h ...

'' (Vertigo, 1973) With Paul Rutherford and Iskra 1912 * ''

Sequences 72 & 73 ''Sequences 72 & 73'' is an album by trombonist Paul Rutherford and the group known as Iskra 1912. It was recorded during 1972–1974 in London, and was released in 1997 by Emanem Records. The album features studio recordings of two ensemble work ...

'' (Emanem, 1997) With

Eberhard Weber Eberhard Weber is a German double bassist and composer. As a bass player, he is known for his highly distinctive tone and phrasing. Weber's compositions blend chamber jazz, European classical music, minimalism and ambient music, and are regarded ...

* '' Fluid Rustle'' (ECM, 1979) With

* '' Song for Someone'' (Incus, 1973) * '' Music for Large and Small Ensembles'' (ECM, 1990) With Atlantic Jazz Collective * ''

Seascape A seascape is a photograph, painting, or other work of art which depicts the sea, in other words an example of marine art. The word originated as a formation from landscape, which was first used for images of land in art. By a similar de ...

'' (Alma Records, 2025) ***

References

External links

* – official website
Norma Winstone
in ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

''
"Norma Winstone"
Improvised Music Company.
"10 Tracks by Norma Winstone I Can't Do Without… by vocalist/composer Nicky Schrire"
''London Jazz News'', 20 May 2021.
"Birthday Wishes and Greetings for Norma Winstone at 80"
''London Jazz News'', 23 September 2021. *John Devenish
"For Norma Winstone, the voice is an instrument"
Jazz.FM91, 9 March 2022. {{DEFAULTSORT:Winstone, Norma 1941 births Living people 20th-century English singers 20th-century English women singers 21st-century English singers 21st-century English women singers Alumni of Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance Azimuth (band) members British women jazz singers ECM Records artists Edition Records artists EmArcy Records artists English jazz singers English lyricists Members of the Order of the British Empire Nucleus (band) members People from Bow, London People from Dagenham Singers from the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham Singers from the London Borough of Tower Hamlets Sunnyside Records artists