NORMA WINSTONE - Edge Of Time
Argo Records ZDA 148 Recorded 1971 Released 1972
Norma Winstone (voice), Kenny Wheeler (tpt, flg), Henry Lowther ( tpt, flg), Art Theman (tnr, sop, flt, bs clt), Alan Skidmore ( tnr, sop, flt), Mike Osborne (alt, clt), Malcolm Griffiths ( trom), Chris Pyne (trom), Paul Rutherford (trom, euph), John Taylor (pne, elp), Frank Ricotti (vbs), Gary Boyle (gtr), Chris Laurence (bs), Tony Levin (drs)
Side A) Edge Of Time 4m 37s, Perkins Landing 6m 27s, Enjoy This Day 10m 22s.
Side B) Erebus (Son Of Chaos) 8m 23s, Songs For A Child 2m 45s, Shadows 7m 48s, Song Of Love 3m 25s.
This album was the debut release forty eight years ago by Norma Winstone MBE who is without doubt one of the true icons of British jazz. Norma was born in Bow, East London on 23rd September 1941. Influenced during her early years by the music of Ella Fitzgerald and Oscar Peterson, she first came to the notice of the British jazz listening fraternity after she opened for Roland Kirk at Ronnie Scotts in 1969. She went on to perform and record with many notable British jazz artists such as John Surman, Mike Westbrook, Michael Garrick and her husband for many years, the pianist John Taylor. She regularly received music based rewards throughout her career and was deservedly made an M.B.E. in 2007 for her contribution to UK jazz. Although she has only recorded twenty or so albums directly under her own name, she's appeared on numerous others and co led the groups "Azimuth" with John Taylor and Kenny Wheeler and in recent years the highly successful "Printmakers" with her long term friend the pianist and composer Nikki Isles. Norma Winstone enjoys a very high profile on the European scene, perhaps even more so than in her own country. She successfully performed and recorded with the N.D.R. Big Band among others and formed a superb minimalist trio with pianist Glauco Venier and the bass clarinet and soprano saxophonist Klaus Gesing. Their highly admired recordings can be found on the E.C.M. record label. The trio went on to perform brilliantly during Norma's 75th birthday concert at London's Cadogan Hall. She has however maintained little enthusiasm to compete in the U.S. market, which is slightly ironic as she released an album in 1998 entitled "Manhattan In The Rain" (recorded in Ardingly, Sussex) to high acclaim and also released a superb set of duo recordings with the American pianist Fred Hersch on the 2002 album "Songs and Lullabies".
"Edge of Time" has become one of the "go to" recordings in contemporary and avant-garde jazz in this country and beyond. The recording was released on the Argo record label which, as part of the Decca Group was set up in 1951 to, in their own words, "highlight the very best music by British artists". Looking back over all the intervening years the line up looks even more incredible now than it did then, bearing in mind the status in music achieved by the likes of Kenny Wheeler, Art Theman, Henry Lowther and the late master trombonist Malcolm Griffiths. There is lots to enjoy here as far as the range of line-ups of the band are concerned , from duo, through quintets to a full eleven piece. The lyric writing by Norma Winstone on five of the tracks is superb, insightful and deeply meaningful, even forgetting her very young age at the time. The atmospheric opener and title track Edge Of Time, is a good example as she combines the delicate words and wordless passages with nonclient ease on John Taylors original composition. John Warrens Perkins Landing again with a striking but subdued lyric by Norma is also another example of great balance and mood changes in one song and also contains a telling trombone solo from Malcolm Griffiths. There are two pieces by John Surman, who does not play on the album but signals the way with his writing alone to his yet to come outstanding international career in music. The first Erebus (Son of Chaos), kicks off as a rather melancholy slow burner, full of tension with a fine guitar interlude from Gary Boyle but then erupts into its real self with Norma's frantic vocal above the collective improvisations of all eleven musicians on board. By contrast the ethereal Shadows is a delicate quintet piece with a fine lyric and immaculate trumpet from a true British great, Henry Lowther. For many, the highlight of this whole high class album could well be the ten minutes of the mesmerising Enjoy This Day with music and arrangement by John Taylor and lyrics by Norma whose wordless vocal takes things to the edge, stretching the boundaries even for that time and including a fine piano solo from the composer and fluid trumpet by the legendary Kenny Wheeler. In summary this is one of the classic recordings of British jazz, the LP version these days being a true collector's item but worth every penny if you are able to find one.
Reviewed by Jim Burlong
This review is of the original 1972 LP. There have been a number of CD re-issues, the 2014 disc on Dusk Fire Records (DUSK CD108) being a true replica in content and cover art of the original with an up- dated sleeve note. It may possibly be available on some digital platforms.
Argo Records ZDA 148 Recorded 1971 Released 1972
Norma Winstone (voice), Kenny Wheeler (tpt, flg), Henry Lowther ( tpt, flg), Art Theman (tnr, sop, flt, bs clt), Alan Skidmore ( tnr, sop, flt), Mike Osborne (alt, clt), Malcolm Griffiths ( trom), Chris Pyne (trom), Paul Rutherford (trom, euph), John Taylor (pne, elp), Frank Ricotti (vbs), Gary Boyle (gtr), Chris Laurence (bs), Tony Levin (drs)
Side A) Edge Of Time 4m 37s, Perkins Landing 6m 27s, Enjoy This Day 10m 22s.
Side B) Erebus (Son Of Chaos) 8m 23s, Songs For A Child 2m 45s, Shadows 7m 48s, Song Of Love 3m 25s.
This album was the debut release forty eight years ago by Norma Winstone MBE who is without doubt one of the true icons of British jazz. Norma was born in Bow, East London on 23rd September 1941. Influenced during her early years by the music of Ella Fitzgerald and Oscar Peterson, she first came to the notice of the British jazz listening fraternity after she opened for Roland Kirk at Ronnie Scotts in 1969. She went on to perform and record with many notable British jazz artists such as John Surman, Mike Westbrook, Michael Garrick and her husband for many years, the pianist John Taylor. She regularly received music based rewards throughout her career and was deservedly made an M.B.E. in 2007 for her contribution to UK jazz. Although she has only recorded twenty or so albums directly under her own name, she's appeared on numerous others and co led the groups "Azimuth" with John Taylor and Kenny Wheeler and in recent years the highly successful "Printmakers" with her long term friend the pianist and composer Nikki Isles. Norma Winstone enjoys a very high profile on the European scene, perhaps even more so than in her own country. She successfully performed and recorded with the N.D.R. Big Band among others and formed a superb minimalist trio with pianist Glauco Venier and the bass clarinet and soprano saxophonist Klaus Gesing. Their highly admired recordings can be found on the E.C.M. record label. The trio went on to perform brilliantly during Norma's 75th birthday concert at London's Cadogan Hall. She has however maintained little enthusiasm to compete in the U.S. market, which is slightly ironic as she released an album in 1998 entitled "Manhattan In The Rain" (recorded in Ardingly, Sussex) to high acclaim and also released a superb set of duo recordings with the American pianist Fred Hersch on the 2002 album "Songs and Lullabies".
"Edge of Time" has become one of the "go to" recordings in contemporary and avant-garde jazz in this country and beyond. The recording was released on the Argo record label which, as part of the Decca Group was set up in 1951 to, in their own words, "highlight the very best music by British artists". Looking back over all the intervening years the line up looks even more incredible now than it did then, bearing in mind the status in music achieved by the likes of Kenny Wheeler, Art Theman, Henry Lowther and the late master trombonist Malcolm Griffiths. There is lots to enjoy here as far as the range of line-ups of the band are concerned , from duo, through quintets to a full eleven piece. The lyric writing by Norma Winstone on five of the tracks is superb, insightful and deeply meaningful, even forgetting her very young age at the time. The atmospheric opener and title track Edge Of Time, is a good example as she combines the delicate words and wordless passages with nonclient ease on John Taylors original composition. John Warrens Perkins Landing again with a striking but subdued lyric by Norma is also another example of great balance and mood changes in one song and also contains a telling trombone solo from Malcolm Griffiths. There are two pieces by John Surman, who does not play on the album but signals the way with his writing alone to his yet to come outstanding international career in music. The first Erebus (Son of Chaos), kicks off as a rather melancholy slow burner, full of tension with a fine guitar interlude from Gary Boyle but then erupts into its real self with Norma's frantic vocal above the collective improvisations of all eleven musicians on board. By contrast the ethereal Shadows is a delicate quintet piece with a fine lyric and immaculate trumpet from a true British great, Henry Lowther. For many, the highlight of this whole high class album could well be the ten minutes of the mesmerising Enjoy This Day with music and arrangement by John Taylor and lyrics by Norma whose wordless vocal takes things to the edge, stretching the boundaries even for that time and including a fine piano solo from the composer and fluid trumpet by the legendary Kenny Wheeler. In summary this is one of the classic recordings of British jazz, the LP version these days being a true collector's item but worth every penny if you are able to find one.
Reviewed by Jim Burlong
This review is of the original 1972 LP. There have been a number of CD re-issues, the 2014 disc on Dusk Fire Records (DUSK CD108) being a true replica in content and cover art of the original with an up- dated sleeve note. It may possibly be available on some digital platforms.
