The Mike Westbrook Concert Band - Love Songs

Year: 1970
Style: Progressive Jazz/Fusion
Country: UK
Label: Deram
Audio: ape-cue-log/mp3 320 + scans
Size: 275MB/121MB + 14MB

Tracklisting:
1. Love Song No. 1 5:50
2. Love Song No. 2 9:28
3. Autumn King 6:09
4. Love Song No. 3 12:14
5. Love Song No. 4 8:01
6. Original Peter 7:51

Mike Westbrook — piano
Norma Winstone — vocals
Mike Osborne — alto sax
George Khan — tenor sax
Paul Rutherford — trumpet
Chris Spedding — guitars
Harry Miller — bass
Alan Jackson — drums

Wikipedia:
"Westbrook spent his childhood in Torquay and went to art school in Plymouth where he began his first bands with such musicians as John Surman, Lou Gare and Keith Rowe.

After moving to London, he became a key figure in the development of British Jazz in the late 1960s, producing several big band records between 1967 and 1969 for the Deram label, featuring such musicians as Surman, Mike Osborne and Harry Miller.

He worked for some years in the early 1970s in the context of a jazz-rock band Solid Gold Cadillac before returning to works for large ensembles, notably in Citadel/Room 315 (1975) featuring John Surman. This was released on CD in 2006 to mark his 70th birthday.

In March 1977 the Mike Westbrook Brass Band, avant-rock group Henry Cow and folk singer Frankie Armstrong merged to form The Orckestra. The ensemble performed in London and several cities in Europe, their last concert being in Bordeaux, France in May 1978.

He continues to produce jazz scores, many for the theatre with his wife, the singer/songwriter Kate Westbrook. He was featured in the 2003 BBC documentary, Jazz Britannia.

His work for the theatre began with Adrian Mitchell's Tyger a celebration of William Blake, staged by the Royal National Theatre in 1971. This became a vehicle for his Brass Band of the 70's and 80's and the LP 'The Westbrook Blake — Bright As Fire' followed on in 1980. A revised and expanded version of the work was re-recorded in 1997 and named 'Glad Day'. The Brass Band also recorded 'Mama Chicago' described as a Jazz Cabaret which featured the voices of Phil Minton and Kate Westbrook. The album was released on CD for the first time in 2007.

Further works of note include 'On Duke's Birthday' which was dedicated to the memory of Duke Ellington, which was reissued on CD in the summer of 2007, 'Big Band Rossini' which was featured in the 1992 BBC Proms and Chanson Irresponsable (2002), commissioned by BBC Radio 3, which brings together jazz and classical musicians in the New Westbrook Orchestra. Mike was awarded an OBE in 1988, and in 2004 the University of Plymouth awarded him an Honorary Doctorate of Music.

Mike's current projects include ART WOLF inspired by the life and work of the Alpine painter Caspar Wolf. In this Kate & Mike Westbrook are joined by saxophonists Pete Whyman & Chris Biscoe. In a more recent project the couple have been joined by four leading Devon musicians to form the Village Band. The acoustic brass band perform many jazz standards and an original piece, the Waxeywork Show, with music written by Mike and text by Kate. The band perform mainly in the Devon and Cornwall area and in 2006 they performed several times at the London."