A creative journey into the world of cinema with new arrangements - by Klaus Gesing and Glauco Venier - of music by Nino Rota, Michel Legrand, William Walton, Bernard Herrmann, and Ennio Morricone for the movies of Scorsese, Godard, Wenders, Jewison, Zeffirelli, Olivier and more. Several of the arrangements incorporate new words by Norma Winstone who, in addition to being one of the great jazz singers, has long been a sensitive lyricist. For this project, her acclaimed trio with Gesing and Venier is augmented by two special guests: Norwegian improvising percussionist Helge Andreas Norbakken and Italian classical cellist Mario Brunello. Norbakken is well-known to ECM listeners for his recordings with Jon Balke, Mathias Eick and Jon Hassell, while Brunello is highly regarded in classical and contemporary music circles for his interpretive versatility. Descansado Music for Films was recorded at ArteSuono Studio in Udine, Italy, in March 2017 and produced by Manfred Eicher.
“One of the Glories of contemporary Jazz”
– Jazz Journal
“Right now, she is at the peak of her form…
there is no jazz singer in the country to touch her.”
– Alyn Shipton, The Times, London
“Sets herself impossibly high standards, and then surpasses them.”
– Tony Sloman, Pizza On the Park
“Norma Winstone’s instrument: an unfettered intelligence spinning tales with language…or without”
– Thomas Conrad, Down Beat Magazine
“Her spare, subtle and intelligent approach to improvisation, jazz standards, impressionistic tone poetry like a vocal Jan Garbarek and the uncovering of overlooked songs that deserve to be classics, put her in the forefront of European singers.”
– John Fordham, The Guardian
“It is unlikely that there is a better jazz singer than Miss Winstone. She has none of the histrionics which mar so much of the work of her contemporaries, and one is left with tasteful ideas, expressed in pure musical form.”
– Steve Voce, Jersey Evening Post
“.. a one-of-a-kind singer blessed with an ear nonpareil… tones so pure, phrasing so unique and captivating, as to make each song an aural adventure.”
– The Skanner, Portland, Oregon
“.. a superb example of state-of-the-art, imaginative, virtually beyond-definition singing.”
– Don Heckman, Los Angeles Times
