Norma Winstone was born in London and first attracted attention in the late sixties when she shared the bill at Ronnie Scott’s club with Roland Kirk.
Although she began her career singing jazz standards, she became involved in the avant garde movement, exploring the use of the voice in an experimental way and evolving her own wordless approach to improvisation.
She joined groups led by Mike Westbrook, Michael Garrick and sang with John Surman, Kenny Wheeler, Michael Gibbs and John Taylor, and worked extensively with many of the major European names and visiting Americans.
In 1971 she was voted top singer in the Melody Maker Jazz Poll and subsequently recorded her own album ‘Edge of Time‘ for Decca, which although long deleted has now been re-released as a CD on the Disconforme label.
In the late seventies she joined pianist John Taylor and trumpeter Kenny Wheeler to form the group Azimuth, which was described by Richard Williams of The Times as “one of the most imaginatively conceived and delicately balanced of all contemporary chamber jazz groups“.
In this setting she combines the instrumental use of the voice with words, most of which she writes herself. Azimuth has recorded several albums on the ECM label (the first three of which have been re-issued as a CD boxed set).
Their CD ‘How It Was Then… Never Again‘ was released in May 1995, and received four stars in Down Beat magazine.
Her own legendary album ‘Somewhere Called Home‘ on the ECM label is widely considered to be a classic.
In recent years she has become known as a very fine lyricist, writing words to compositions by Ralph Towner, and Brazilian composers Egberto Gismonti and Ivan Lins (who has recorded her English lyrics to his song ‘Vieste‘). She has a special affinity with the music of Steve Swallow, and has written 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 ECM double 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 the legendary American pianist Jimmy Rowles, featuring George Mraz on bass and Joe La Barbera on drums, was given a four star rating in Down Beat magazine. Here Norma sings a selection of rare jazz standards, including Jimmy’s famous tune ‘The Peacocks’ for which she wrote lyrics and re-titled ‘A Timeless Place‘. This piece has since been recorded by other artists including jazz singer Mark Murphy, and The Swingle Singers.
Her CD ‘Manhattan In The Rain‘, with pianist Steve Gray, bassist Chris Laurence and special guest saxophonist Tony Coe consists of unusual and classic standards, described by Dave Gelly in The Observer as “A delectable set of songs… masterly and enthralling“.
A CD of duo performances with pianist John Taylor entitled ‘Like Song, Like Weather‘ on the Enodoc label was described by Don Heckman of the Los Angeles Times as “…a superb example of state-of-the-art, imaginative, virtually beyond-definition singing“.
In July 2001, she won the title of Best Vocalist in the BBC Jazz Awards hosted by Humphrey Lyttleton at London’s Queen Elizabeth Hall.
With American pianist Fred Hersch, she recorded a CD of Fred’s compositions with her lyrics: called ‘Songs and Lullabies‘, available in the US on Sunnyside, and in England on the Enodoc label. Vibraphonist Gary Burton makes a guest appearance on three tracks.
A recording ‘It’s Later than You Think‘, with the marvellous North German Radio big band directed by British writer Colin Towns, was released in Autumn 2006 to coincide with a British tour.
She was one of the stars of the acclaimed Gilles Peterson ‘Jazz Britannia‘ programme shown on BBC 2, from The Barbican which featured influential music of British jazz musicians from the sixties and seventies, along with contemporary jazz artists A double CD ‘Amoroso…only more so‘, with The Stan Tracey trio and saxophonist Bobby Wellins was released on the Trio label to some five star reviews…….
“This is standards-reinvention as it should be done” John Fordham, The Guardian.
“Winstone’s voice and Wellins’ highly vocalised tenor seem made for each other…. Sheer class” Ray Comiskey, The Irish Times.
She continues in the forefront of British jazz and was nominated again in the 2007 and 2008 BBC Jazz Awards for best vocalist.
She was awarded an MBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List in 2007.
In 2009 she was awarded the Skoda Jazz Ahead Award in Bremen for her contribution to European Jazz.
Her current group is a trio featuring Italian pianist Glauco Venier and German saxophonist/ bass clarinetist Klaus Gesing.
The trio was formed around twelve years ago when Glauco and Klaus, who were playing as a duo at the time, asked Norma to guest with them at a concert near Udine, in Northern Italy, Glauco’s home town. A rapport between the three was immediately apparent. She realised that this was a group that had a very original sound which she wanted to develop. They made their first recording ‘Chamber Music‘, released by Universal, Austria, at the Artesuono Recording Studios in Udine in 2002. This is where they subsequently recorded their ECM album ‘Distances‘, which was given a four and a half star review in Downbeat Magazine, had wonderful reviews in the German and English press.
The CD received an award as top Jazz Vocal CD from Academie Du Jazz in France and its crowning achievement was a Grammy nomination in the Jazz Vocal CD category of 2008.
There have been two further ECM releases: “Stories Yet To Tell” in 2010 and “Dance Without Answer” in 2013 – both to much critical acclaim.
Norma also works with the Nikki Iles’ group “The Printmakers” comprising some of the UK’s finest musicians. They released a long-awaited album “Westerly” this year and perform mainly in the UK.
Awards and Fellowships 2010 Lifetime Achievement Jazz Medal from the Worshipful Company of Musicians.
Honorary Fellow at Trinity Laban Conservatoire – incidentally the first Jazz Fellow.
2013 Honorary Member of the Royal Academy of Music 2015 Parliamentary Jazz Award for Best Vocalist Gold Badge of Merit from British Academy of Songwriters, Composers and Authors

Jazz trumpeter and flügelhornist Kenny Wheeler was one of the most advanced voices on his instrument. Blessed with a full, lovely tone and an astounding range, Wheeler sounded equally at home in fiery free jazz explorations or softer, more lyrical post-bop meditations. Wheeler was born in 1930 in Toronto, Ontario, and began playing trumpet at age 12. After studying at Toronto's Royal Conservatory, he moved to London in 1952, where he gigged with swing and dance bands. He appeared with John Dankworth's orchestra at the 1959 Newport Festival and remained with that group until 1965. In 1966,Wheeler discovered free jazz, and, fascinated, joined John Stevens' Spontaneous Music Ensemblefor the next four years. In addition, he played jazz-rock fusion with the Mike Gibbs Orchestra from 1969-1975, and joined Tony Oxley's sextet (along with free jazz giants like Derek Bailey and Evan Parker) from 1969-1972. Through the latter, Wheeler was invited to join German pianist Alexander von Schlippenbach's groundbreaking free jazz big band the Globe Unity Orchestra in 1970, an association Wheeler maintained for years to come.
During the first half of the '70s, Wheeler played with Anthony Braxton, which became his primary focus. In 1975, he signed with the ECM label and recorded the well-received Gnu High, which established him as a solo artist of note; the following year, he left Braxton and joined the trio Azimuth. Wheelerturned out a series of excellent ECM albums, including 1977'sDeer Wan and 1983's Double, Double You (that year,Wheeler also began a four-year run with the Dave Holland Quintet). Several more generally fine outings followed in the '90s, including the ECM dates Music for Large and Small Ensembles and The Widow in the Window (both recorded in 1990), plus other recordings for Justin Time and Soul Note later in the decade. During the 2000s and 2010s, he recorded several dates for CAM Jazz, including 2008's Other People with the Hugo Wolf String Quartet and 2011's One of Many with Steve Swallow. Wheeler died on September 18, 2014 after a brief illness. His final studio session, the Manfred Eicher-produced Songs for Quintet, was released in 2015 on what would have been Wheeler's 85th birthday.

Jason Keiser is a professional jazz and bluegrass guitarist, multi-stylist composer, OA2 & Adhyâropa Records recording artist, and educator. In addition to his solo career, Keiser is the bandleader of The New Acoustic Collective, a jazz-bluegrass fusion string band based in San Jose CA. Keiser holds a B.A. in Bluegrass, Old-Time, & Country Music Studies from East Tennessee State University (2018) and a Masters of Music in Jazz Studies from San Jose State University (2020). Keiser has collaborated, performed and/or studied with the following musicians; Wyatt Rice, Ron Rice, John Carlini, Rick Vandivier, Thomas Cassell, Ardeshir Farah, Adam Steffey, John Stowell, Mimi Fox, Dmitri Matheny, Dave Ellis, Matt Clark, Ruth Davies, Kenya Moses, Ami Molinelli, Jim Kerwin, Mike Mullins, Aaron Lington, Erik Jekabson, Dan Robbins, Jason Lewis, Jason Day, Don Ross, Danielle Wertz, Mike Zilber, and many more. Keiser’s discography includes Conversations with Jason (2017) featuring Jason Day, Buckwild (2020) by The New Acoustic Collective, Art of Acoustics (2021) featuring Wyatt Rice by The New Acoustic Collective, The Axe Axis (2022) featuring Rick Vandivier & John Stowell, Amor en Ritmo (2022) featuring Thomas Cassell, Mike Mullins, Jim Kerwin & Melissa Garay by The New Acoustic Collective, Shaw’s Groove (2023) on OA2 Records featuring John Stowell, Aaron Lington, Erik Jekabson, Dan Robbins, and Jason Lewis, and his latest release Grassology (April 2024) on Adhyâropa Records. On October 25th 2024, Keiser will be releasing his follow up to Shaw’s Groove; an intimate chamber jazz quintet record entitled Kind of Kenny featuring John Stowell, Danielle Wertz, Mike Zilber, and Erik Jekabson highlighting the unique music of Kenny Wheeler on OA2 Records.
​ Keiser has performed at many of the top jazz venues in the Bay Area including The Sound Room, Mr. Tipples Jazz Club, Mama Kin formerly Cafe Stritch, and more. Additionally, Keiser performed a 6 week residency at The Biltmore Estate in Asheville North Carolina, in 2021 Keiser and The New Acoustic Collective performed at IBMA’s World of Bluegrass as Official Showcase Artists, The Grey Eagle in Asheville, as well as performances in Virginia, Tennessee, and more as a solo jazz artist.