Azimuth (album)
{{Infobox album|
| name = Azimuth
| type = Album
| artist = Azimuth
| cover = Azimuth (album).jpg
| alt =
| released = 1977
| recorded = March 1977
| venue =
| studio = Talent Studio
Oslo, Norway
| genre = Jazz
| length = 43:29
| label = ECM
ECM 1099 ST
| producer = Manfred Eicher
| chronology = Azimuth
| prev_title =
| prev_year =
| next_title = The Touchstone
| next_year = 1978
}}
Azimuth is the debut album by British jazz trio Azimuth recorded in March 1977 and released on ECM later that year.[http://www.ecmrecords.com/Catalogue/ECM/1000/1099.php? ECM discography] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121006092641/http://www.ecmrecords.com/Catalogue/ECM/1000/1099.php |date=2012-10-06 }} accessed September 9, 2011 The trio consists of pianist John Taylor, vocalist Norma Winstone, and trumpeter Kenny Wheeler.
Reception
{{Album ratings
| rev1 = AllMusic
| rev1Score = {{rating|4.5|5}}
| rev2 = The Penguin Guide to Jazz
| rev2Score = {{rating|3|4}}{{cite book | last1=Cook |first1=Richard |last2=Morton |first2=Brian | title=The Penguin Guide to Jazz on CD, LP and Cassette | publisher=Penguin Books | year=1992 | pages=48 }}
}}
The AllMusic review by Michael G. Nastos calls the compositions "deep improvisations, communicative and spiritual."Nastos, M. G. [http://www.allmusic.com/album/azimuth-r134829 Allmusic Review] accessed September 9, 2011
The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings says 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."{{cite book | last1=Cook |first1=Richard |last2=Morton |first2=Brian | title=The Penguin Guide to Jazz on CD | publisher=Penguin Books | year=1998| pages=69 }}
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."{{cite web |url=https://aquariumdrunkard.com/2018/11/05/aquarium-drunkard-guide-to-ecm-records-second-installment |title=Aquarium Drunkard Guide To ECM Records: Second Installment |date=November 5, 2018 |website=Aquarium Drunkard |access-date=April 23, 2022}}
Tyran Grillo, writing for ECM blog Between Sound and Space, called the album "an altogether fascinating mosaic of atmospheres."{{cite web |url=https://ecmreviews.com/2010/11/30/azimuth |title=Azimuth |website=Between Sound and Space |last=Grillo |first=Tyran |date=November 30, 2010 |access-date=April 23, 2022}}
Track listing
{{Track listing
| all_writing =
| all_lyrics = Norma Winstone
| all_music = John Taylor
| headline = Side I
| title1 = Sirens' Song
| length1 = 4:13
| title2 = O
| length2 = 6:49
| title3 = Azimuth
| length3 = 12:18
| total_length = 23:20
| title_width = 80%
}}{{Track listing
| headline = Side II
| title1 = The Tunnel
| length1 = 9:17
| title2 = Greek Triangle
| length2 = 2:05
| title3 = Jacob
| length3 = 8:47
| total_length = 20:09 43:29
| title_width = 80%
}}
Personnel
= Azimuth =
- John Taylor – piano, synthesizer
- Norma Winstone – vocals
- Kenny Wheeler – trumpet, flugelhorn
= Technical personnel =
- Manfred Eicher – producer
- Jan Erik Kongshaug – recording engineer
- Bob Ludwig – mastering engineer
- Barbara Wojirsch – layout
- Otl Aicher – cover photography