''Départ'' is an album by British jazz trio

Azimuth An azimuth (; from ) is the horizontal angle from a cardinal direction, most commonly north, in a local or observer-centric spherical coordinate system. Mathematically, the relative position vector from an observer ( origin) to a point ...

with American jazz guitarist

Ralph Towner Ralph Towner (born March 1, 1940) is an American multi-instrumentalist, composer, arranger and bandleader. He plays the twelve-string guitar, classical guitar, piano, synthesizer, percussion, trumpet and French horn. Biography Towner was born i ...

, recorded in December 1979 and released on

ECM ECM may refer to the following: Economics and commerce * Engineering change management * Equity capital markets * Error correction model, an econometric model * European Common Market Mathematics * Lenstra's Elliptic curve method for factor ...

the following year. The trio features trumpeter

Kenny Wheeler Kenneth Vincent John Wheeler, Order of Canada, OC (14 January 1930 – 18 September 2014) was a Canadian composer and trumpet and flugelhorn player, based in the U.K. from the 1950s onwards. Most of his performances were rooted in jazz, but he w ...

, vocalist

Norma Winstone Norma Ann Winstone MBE (born 23 September 1941) is an English jazz singer and lyricist. With a career spanning more than 50 years, she is best known for her contributions to improvised vocal music. Musicians with whom she has worked include ...

and pianist

John Taylor John Taylor, Johnny Taylor or similar is the name of: Academics *John Taylor (Oxford), Vice-Chancellor of Oxford University, 1486–1487 * John Taylor (classical scholar) (1704–1766), English classical scholar *John Taylor (English publisher) ...

, joined by guitarist

Reception

The authors of the ''

Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings ''The Penguin Guide to Jazz'' is a reference work containing an encyclopedic directory of jazz recordings on compact disc, CD which were (at the time of publication) currently available in Europe or the United States. The first nine editions wer ...

'' called Towner "an ideal guest," and wrote: "Much as he does on Weather Report's ''I Sing the Body Electric'', Towner sounds as if he comes from outside the basic conception of the group, but with a genuine understanding and appreciation of what it's all about. His contribution is perhaps most emphatic on 'Arrivée'... linking the whole disc into a continuous suite." Writing for ''Between Sound and Space'', Tyran Grillo described the album as "Azimuth's most fully realized effort, through which the project honed its sound to an art," and noted: "Winstone's overdubs visualize gossamer veils of more distant storms, while Wheeler's soulful trumpet shines like the sun beyond them... The brief addition of Tower heightens their collective sound, even as it tethers them to the earth."

Track listing

All compositions by John Taylor. # "The Longest Day" – 6:32 # "Autumn" – 11:10 # "Arrivée" – 7:52 # "Touching Points: a. From the Window" – 1:14 # "Touching Points: b. Windfall" – 4:37 # "Touching Points: c. The Rabbit" – 2:36 # "Touching Points: d. Charcoal Traces" – 4:37 # "Départ" – 10:29 # "The Longest Day (Reprise)" – 3:44

Personnel

Azimuth

– trumpet, flugelhorn *

– vocals *

– piano, organ

Guest

– 12-string guitar, classical guitar

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Depart ECM Records albums Azimuth (band) albums 1980 collaborative albums Albums produced by Manfred Eicher