Outpost of Dreams

Outpost of Dreams is a collaborative studio album by English jazz singer Norma Winstone and pianist Kit Downes. It was released on 5 July 2024, by ECM Records.

Background

The ten-track album was produced by Winstone's long-time collaborator Manfred Eicher, and recorded by Winstone and Downes in April 2023 in Udine, Italy, as their first collaborative album.

Reception

Outpost of Dreams was described by AllMusic as a "quiet, gentle, even tenderly poetic masterpiece that represents music-making as an organic yet adventurous hub of meaning." All About Jazz's Chris May stated "The urge to decode the songs is, however, hard to resist and will be an enjoyable aspect of what one anticipates to be multiple returns to the album," and rated the album three and a half stars out of five.
French magazine Télérama's Louis-Julien Nicolaou praised Winstone's vocal performance on the album and described it as "an album with refined melodies of clear, scintillating modernity." The Guardian noted it as "an album of exquisite songs and extraordinary empathy," comparing Winstone's cover of the traditional song "Black Is the Colour" to that of Nina Simone.