Azimuth (band)

Azimuth was a British jazz trio, active from 1977 through the early 2000s.[1]

Azimuth began as a duo composed of vocalist Norma Winstone and her husband, pianist John Taylor.[2] In the mid 1970s, Taylor contacted several record companies with the goal of recording a duo album, but during his appointment with ECM Records founder Manfred Eicher, the latter suggested that they form a trio with trumpeter Kenny Wheeler, and Azimuth was born.[2][3] The group's first release was a 1977 ECM album; two further albums quickly followed, with later albums coming in 1985 and 1995.[4][5]

Wheeler died in 2014,[6] and Taylor died the following year.[2]

Critic John Fordham wrote that the group conjured "a unique chemistry of low-key free improvisation, sometimes wordless vocals, jazz and classical music, and Taylor compositions that often sounded becalmed yet simmering with urgent implications."[2] Richard Williams of The Times described them as "one of the most imaginatively conceived and delicately balanced of all contemporary chamber jazz groups."[7]