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Jazz Articles about Mike Westbrook
About Mike Westbrook
Instrument: Composer / conductor
Talking the Groove: Jazz Words from the Morning Star
by Duncan Heining
Talking the Groove: Jazz Words from the Morning Star Chris Searle (foreword by Mike Westbrook) 394 pages ISBN: #978-1-9163206-7-3 Jazz in Britain 2024 Talking the Groove collects Chris Searle's more recent reviews, articles and interviews from the British socialist daily paper, the Morning Star, acting as a follow-up to Red Groove from 2013. The sheer span of artists covered in this book is astonishing. From the U.S.A, older statespersons like Anthony Braxton, Archie ...
Continue ReadingMike Westbrook: Band of Bands
by Duncan Heining
For over six decades, composer, bandleader and musician Mike Westbrook has pursued a personal vision of jazz inspired by his hero Duke Ellington. That vision rests on the life-affirming, metamorphic potential at the music's heart. Band of Bands, built upon musical friendships old and more recent, is as fine a set of performances as any in Westbrook's long career. Several things impress immediately here. Firstly, though known primarily for their association with Westbrook, the rhythm section of bassist ...
Continue ReadingMike Westbrook, Prince Lasha and More
by Jerome Wilson
This show features several British jazz musicians such as Mike Westbrook and Yazz Ahmed. There is also music from Prince Lasha, Dan Pugach and Dave Douglas among others. Playlist Henry Threadgilll Sextett “I Can't Wait Till I Get Home" from The Complete Novus & Columbia Recordings of Henry Threadgill & Air (Mosaic} 00:00 Schapiro 17 “Tango" from Human Qualities (Summit) 00:55 Dan Pugach Nonet “Love Dance" from Plus One (Unit) 8:44 Host Speaks 14:38 Dewey Redman “Venus and ...
Continue ReadingMike Westbrook: London Bridge Live In Zurich 1990
by Chris May
Viewed from the other side of the Atlantic, Mike Westbrook is probably Britain's best kept secret. A composer, pianist and tubaist--above all, composer--Westbrook's recording career began in the late 1960s. Since then he has released upwards of fifty albums, spanning jazz rock through jazz and contemporary-classical fusions such as the 2 x CD London Bridge Live In Zurich 1990. Westbrook's albums have been performed by lineups ranging in size from trios through to, in this case, an eleven-piece jazz orchestra ...
Continue ReadingMike Westbrook Concert Band: Marching Song Volumes 1 & 2 Plus Bonus Tracks
by Maurizio Comandini
Mike Westbrook, pianista e soprattutto direttore di orchestra, è nato il 21 marzo del 1936 a High Wycombe, 50 chilometri a nord-ovest di Londra. Dapprima tentato dalla Art School di Plymouth, si dedica poi con decisione alla musica, dalla fine degli anni cinquanta. Nel 1958 forma la sua prima band per la quale gli capita di reclutare il sedicenne John Surman, giovane talento emergente che stava terminando il suo percorso scolastico. Quattro anni dopo Westbrook si sposta a Londra per ...
Continue ReadingMike Westbrook Orchestra: Catania
by Ian Patterson
A major figure in British jazz since the late 1950s, composer-pianist Mike Westbrook continues to write, perform and record at a rate of knots which would leave contenders half his 83 years on the ropes. Four albums since 2016, including--after a gap of forty years—not one but two solo piano recordings, are testament to the creative fire that continues to burn inside him. This previously-unreleased live recording from Sicily in 1992, captures the twenty-three-piece Mike Westbrook Orchestra in truly scintillating ...
Continue ReadingMike Westbrook: Starcross Bridge
by Vic Albani
Sia ringraziato il cielo per avere tra noi un musicista come l'inglese Mike Westbrook e un intelligente discografico come lo svizzero Werner Uehlinger. Il primo per avere rifondato e fatto germogliare tutto il new jazz britannico, il secondo per avere dato la possibilità a decine e decine di musicisti di esprimersi come forse non avrebbero potuto fare e avere creato una sorta di “new way" dell'ascolto del jazz per almeno una generazione di passivi ascoltatori. E grazie, ...
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