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Mike and Kate Westbrook


jazz1

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Wondering if anybody in the US knows them.

A visit to their website is a must

http://www.westbrookjazz.co.uk/index.shtml

I am actually looking for somebody to make me a copy of a cd called

"Love for sale" I had the lp many years ago and till today it remains my definitive version of the song.

Mike and Kate are surely amongst the most creative musicians today.

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jazz1, I cannot provide that CD you're looking for (I have none of the Westbrook's discs), but I did hear the Turner in Uri project (that festival which comissioned it, Alpentone - meaning "sounds of the alps" - was almost completely broadcasted on swiss radion. And that Turner in Uri piece was rather something!

Can you give some recommendations where to start with Westbrook(s)? Some things that are easy to find, maybe?

ubu

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Can you give some recommendations where to start with Westbrook(s)? Some things that are easy to find, maybe?

ubu

I only have "on Duke's birthday" which is great.

I had 2 lps "Love for sale" and the Rossini, live in Zurich one, which was on Hat Art, maybe you could find them in Switzerland??

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Can you give some recommendations where to start with Westbrook(s)? Some things that are easy to find, maybe?

ubu

I only have "on Duke's birthday" which is great.

I had 2 lps "Love for sale" and the Rossini, live in Zurich one, which was on Hat Art, maybe you could find them in Switzerland??

wishful thinking... sadly, hats are incredibly hard to find here (except for the latest hatOLOGIES), and they're incredibly prized, too! (38 CHF, which these days is around 25 Euros or 28/29 US$ - totally crazy, no?)

I will try looking for the Rossini, though. There's one used vinyl store here - maybe I'm lucky... thanks.

ubu

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  • 3 weeks later...

I listened to the Ellington tribute yesterday - a very good disc!

Thanks, jazz1, for recommending it to me!

ubu

I am still waiting for the Rossini disc, but the post to SA is pretty slow.

If you can find in the second hand shops a copy of the LP "love for sale"

It is a must. It is just a trio with Kate on vocal Mike on piano and Chris Biscoe on sax on some tracks. Chris is a really nice player, underated.

Very theatrical interpretations by Kate.

If you are into hifi, it is a stunning recording too.

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I've been following the Westbrooks since the mid-70s. There's a big gap in available recordings from the early 70s to the 90s - superb recordings like 'The Westbrook Blake', 'Goose Sauce', 'Love-Dream Variations', 'Mama Chicago' and 'The Paris Album'.

I find the more recent recordings a bit too theatrical for my taste.

However, I would recommend two recordings available on ENJA:

The Cortege - originally a 3LP set, now on 2CDs. A piece linked with the death of Westbrook's father. A collage of poems from various European writers in various languages. Unlike the more recent stuff the music dominates over the vocals. They arrangements are superb and quite unlike anything else I've heard. There are some spine tingling solos from the likes of Malcomn Griffiths, Guy Barker and Brian Godding. To my mind the best extended jazz piece I know.

Glad Day - this collects all the Westbrook Blake settings in a new recording from the late 90s. Astonishingly it's as good as the original 'Westbrook Blake' album - my only disappointment was that I preferred the original sequence. It adds songs not on the latter album. Quite wonderful. Again, lots of instrumental richness and soloing.

Columbia reissued the original late-60s Westbrooks a few years back in a British re-issue series that quickly died. I suspect they've all but disappeared. If you're interested buy one now.

Three I've never heard that have never got to CD (except possibly in Japanese form) are 'Tyger' (an even earlier Blake arrangement); and 'Love Songs' with Norma Winstone; and 'For the Record'.

Enja are about to release Westbrook's new extended piece, "Chanson Irresponsable" which sounded superb on the radio a couple of years back. A return to the large format Westbrook.

Edited by Bev Stapleton
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Bev, I'll keep your recommendations in mind! Thanks! Some of the Enjas really look good.

jazz1: thanks again very much for making me buy the two hatARTs! I listened to the Rossini live disc finally last night, and this is really good stuff! I like the way they cross over genres, like the arrangements, the humour, and on top of it, there are some good soloists, too. Very enjoyable CDs! Thanks again!

ubu

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  • 4 weeks later...

I picked up Westbrook/Blake last week, had no time to listen.

Then I have "Love for Sale" on hold at a store right now. I think I'll get it.

I also listened to a solo piano album, improvisations based on poems, but I did not find that one very interesting - it was on the Impetus (?) label, I think, same label as Westbrook/Blake.

Also at the same store which helds Love for Sale back for me, this one would be available:

enj9358.jpg

Shall I go for it, too?

ubu

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I don't know that one, ubu.

It's a more recent Westbrook. To my mind Westbrook has not been so compelling in the last 15 years though I did enjoy the recent "Chanson Irresponsable" when it was on the radio. Perhaps not one to jump at.

I really like the solo piano disc. Westbrook is no virtuoso - arrangers piano, I think they call it - but the pieces on that disc really do reveal a very distinct set of characteristics. Very romantic in places which is not normal with Westbrook.

Just go out of your way to find 'The Cortege'. Desert island music!

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I don't know that one, ubu.

It's a more recent Westbrook. To my mind Westbrook has not been so compelling in the last 15 years though I did enjoy the recent "Chanson Irresponsable" when it was on the radio. Perhaps not one to jump at.

I really like the solo piano disc. Westbrook is no virtuoso - arrangers piano, I think they call it - but the pieces on that disc really do reveal a very distinct set of characteristics. Very romantic in places which is not normal with Westbrook.

Just go out of your way to find 'The Cortege'. Desert island music!

Thanks, Bev. I'll let that one, and rather look if they still have the piano disc. "Arranger's piano" might be the right term, and that usually requires more than just overtly casual listening, which is all I had a chance to do, so far.

I'll put "The cortège" on my list.

ubu

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  • 1 month later...

jazz1 or anybody: how does the Rossini studio (HatArt 6002) compare to the Rossini live (HatArt 6152)? I see they were recorded on consecutive days (they went in the studio two and three days, respectively, after the live performance on Hat 6152 took place.

Also, the tracks are identical etc. Now, I do have the live one, and as I might order something relatively soon from Cadence, my question is: do I need the studio disc, too? How does it compare? Is the difference in the two records big enough to get them both?

Btw, I had a first listen to the "Piano" disc - and, "arranger's piano" or not, it is beautiful! Thanks for making me pick it up!

ubu

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jazz1 or anybody: how does the Rossini studio (HatArt 6002) compare to the Rossini live (HatArt 6152)? I see they were recorded on consecutive days (they went in the studio two and three days, respectively, after the live performance on Hat 6152 took place.

Also, the tracks are identical etc. Now, I do have the live one, and as I might order something relatively soon from Cadence, my question is: do I need the studio disc, too? How does it compare? Is the difference in the two records big enough to get them both?

Btw, I had a first listen to the "Piano" disc - and, "arranger's piano" or not, it is beautiful! Thanks for making me pick it up!

ubu

up with my question!

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  • 9 months later...

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