Norma Winstone's voice is a masterclass in subtlety – her notes dancing like a gazelle across the savannah of sound. So it's no surprise that her 1990 session with Hanover's esteemed NDR Radio Orchestra, now unearthed as 'A Timeless Place', remains one of those magical moments when artistry and circumstance collide in perfection.
This sparkling archival recording captures Winstone at the height of her powers – an 80-year-old lioness still roaring with a voice that can convey the depths of human emotion in a single whispered word. With ECM Records' Manfred Eicher hailing her unique ability to 'hear things differently', this session is a potent demonstration of her skill, enhanced by the arrangements of long-time collaborator Steve Gray.
The album's centrepiece is Winstone's take on Jimmy Rowles' beautiful tune 'The Peacocks'. This song, which has been interpreted by vocal greats like Mark Murphy and Cécile McLorin Salvant, shows Winstone at her thematic best – capturing the bittersweet essence of 'glimpsed happiness, missed chances and the sounds and colours of emotions' in a way that's both intimate and expansive.
As the album hurtles forward, Winstone tackles 'The Glide', Ralph Towner's guitarist-driven tune that allows her to unfurl wordless variations that are both spontaneous and considered. Her sardonic lyric on Steve Swallow’s 'Ladies in Mercedes' brings a wicked grin, while her heart-wrenching rendition of 'I Loves You, Porgy' distills the song's complex mix of resignation and hope into something almost unbearably poignant.
Not to be outdone by Winstone's mastery are the other jazz gems released this month. Zakir Hussain's 'Sangam & Friends', recorded in Mumbai in 2009, is a vibrant East-West exchange that crackles with energy; Richard Spaven's 'Light of Day' fuses jazz, avant-funk and Celtic influences in a thrilling way; and Tal Mashiach's 'Who’s Around?' blends Brazilian, Israeli and Greek musical traditions into something entirely new.