Norma Winstone - Descansado

The Guardian 80

(ECM)

Of all the album ideas you might expect Norma Winstone to come up with, a selection of 12 tunes from films seems about the most unlikely. But unlikely ideas have often inspired her boldest and most characteristic work. Each piece emerges in some new and fascinating guise. Take, for instance, Michel Legrand’s His Eyes, Her Eyes from The Thomas Crown Affair, all florid piano and busy strings in the original. Here, it’s delicate and almost austere, with Winstone’s voice accompanied by sparse piano (Glauco Venier) and soprano saxophone (Klaus Gesing). These are the only instrumentalists on the album, apart from a few brief touches of cello and percussion, and they make perfect, intimate partners throughout.

Where a piece comes with its own words, Winstone sings them, but for the majority she either adds wordless melody, as in Meryton Townhall, a country dance from Joe Wright’s 2005 film of Pride and Prejudice, or creates her own lyrics. These are the most touching and personal of all, especially the theme from Il Postino and William Walton’s Touch Her Soft Lips and Part, from Olivier’s Henry V.