When it comes to selecting songs from films, vocalist Norma Winstone is not going to be the type to pick from Sound of Music or Guys and Dolls. Her adventurous heart picks more abstract material, and uses the flexible team of Klaus Gesing/bcl-ss, Glauco Venier/p, Helge Andreas/perc and Mario Brunello/cel-celpic for support.
On wordless vocal pieces such as “Lisbon Story” “ she creates a passionate folk dance with Gesing’s soprano sax. Her intricate and delectably clear enunciation works wonders on the stark and penetrating “His Eyes, Her Eyes” and the tactile “Il Postino” with a three legged race with Venier’s piano and Gesing’s clarinet. She gives a poetic aria on “Touch Her Soft Lips and Part” while getting intimate on the Spartan title track. A handful of tunes allow the musicians to get center stage, most notably on two takes of the thoughtful “Vivre Sa Vie.” Music for the obscure film festival in all of us.
ECM Records