Azimuth (album)

Azimuth is the debut album by British jazz trio Azimuth featuring trumpeter Kenny Wheeler, vocalist Norma Winstone, and pianist John Taylor recorded in 1977 and released on the ECM label.[1]

Azimuth
Studio album by
Azimuth
Released1977
RecordedMarch 1977
StudioTalent Studio, Oslo
GenreJazz
Length43:29
LabelECM
ECM 1099
ProducerManfred Eicher
Azimuth chronology
Azimuth
(1977)		 The Touchstone
(1978)

Reception
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[2]
The Penguin Guide to Jazz[3]

The AllMusic review by Michael G. Nastos awarded the album 4½ stars calling the compositions "deep improvisations, communicative and spiritual".[2]

The authors of the Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings wrote that Winstone's voice "floats with a characteristic balance between freedom and control over Taylor's minimalistic piano figures. Any doubts that these are jazz-trained and jazz-centred performers are immediately dispelled." They described the title track as "a grand acoustic edifice that constantly reveals new areas of interest."[4]

A reviewer for Aquarium Drunkard wrote: "Taylor's arpeggiated synthesizers provide the pulsing backdrop for the majority of these tracks with Winstone and Wheeler floating and weaving through the space above with improvisational interplay akin to a dance. 'The Tunnel', one of two tracks with actual poetry, has Winstone singing of the 'darkness into blackness, flying along on the rhythm track', perhaps describing the dark, reflective space the trio beautifully explore and inhabit on this ambient jazz classic."[5]

Tyran Grillo, writing for Between Sound and Space, called the album "an altogether fascinating mosaic of atmospheres."[6]

Track listing
All compositions by John Taylor & Norma Winstone
  1. "Sirens' Song" – 4:13
  2. "O" – 6:49
  3. "Azimuth" – 12:18
  4. "The Tunnel" – 9:17
  5. "Greek Triangle" – 2:05
  6. "Jacob" – 8:47

Personnel
Azimuth

References
  1. ECM discography Archived 2012-10-06 at the Wayback Machine accessed September 9, 2011
  2. Nastos, M. G. Allmusic Review accessed September 9, 2011
  3. Cook, Richard; Morton, Brian (1992). The Penguin Guide to Jazz on CD, LP and Cassette. Penguin Books. p. 48.
  4. Cook, Richard; Morton, Brian (1998). The Penguin Guide to Jazz on CD. Penguin Books. p. 69.
  5. "Aquarium Drunkard Guide To ECM Records: Second Installment". Aquarium Drunkard. November 5, 2018. Retrieved April 23, 2022.
  6. Grillo, Tyran (November 30, 2010). "Azimuth". Between Sound and Space. Retrieved April 23, 2022.
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