Michael John David Westbrook (born 21 March 1936) is an English

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...

pianist, composer, and writer of

orchestrated Orchestration is the study or practice of writing music for an orchestra (or, more loosely, for any musical ensemble, such as a concert band) or of adapting music composed for another medium for an orchestra. Also called "instrumentation", orch ...

jazz pieces. He is married to the vocalist, librettist and painter

Kate Westbrook Kate Westbrook may refer to: *Kate Westbrook (musician) (born 1939), singer/songwriter *Kate Westbrook, pseudonym for Samantha Weinberg Samantha Weinberg is a British novelist, journalist and travel writer. Educated at St Paul's Girls' School and ...

Early work

Mike Westbrook was born in

High Wycombe High Wycombe, often referred to as Wycombe ( ), is a market town in Buckinghamshire, England. Lying in the valley of the River Wye surrounded by the Chiltern Hills, it is west-northwest of Charing Cross in London, south-southeast of Ayl ...

Buckinghamshire Buckinghamshire (), abbreviated Bucks, is a ceremonial county in South East England that borders Greater London to the south-east, Berkshire to the south, Oxfordshire to the west, Northamptonshire to the north, Bedfordshire to the north-ea ...

, England, and grew up in

Torquay Torquay ( ) is a seaside town in Devon, England, part of the unitary authority area of Torbay. It lies south of the county town of Exeter and east-north-east of Plymouth, on the north of Tor Bay, adjoining the neighbouring town of Paignton ...

. After a spell in accountancy and his

National Service National service is the system of voluntary government service, usually military service. Conscription is mandatory national service. The term ''national service'' comes from the United Kingdom's National Service (Armed Forces) Act 1939. The l ...

The Wire, 1985 (some of it in Germany) he went to art school, studying painting, in

Plymouth Plymouth () is a port city and unitary authority in South West England. It is located on the south coast of Devon, approximately south-west of Exeter and south-west of London. It is bordered by Cornwall to the west and south-west. Plymouth ...

. There he also began his first bands in 1958, soon joined by such musicians as

John Surman John Douglas Surman (born 30 August 1944) is an English jazz saxophone, bass clarinet, and synthesizer player, and composer of free jazz and modal jazz, often using themes from folk music. He has composed and performed music for dance performanc ...

Lou Gare Leslie Arthur "Lou" Gare (16 June 1939 – 6 October 2017) was a British free-jazz saxophonist born in Rugby, Warwickshire, England, perhaps best known for his works with the improvised music ensemble AMM and playing with musicians such as Eddie ...

and

Keith Rowe Keith may refer to: People and fictional characters * Keith (given name), includes a list of people and fictional characters * Keith (surname) * Keith (singer), American singer James Keefer (born 1949) * Baron Keith, a line of Scottish barons ...

. After moving to London in 1962, Westbrook led numerous bands, large and small, and played regularly at

the Old Place ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the ...

and the Little Theatre Club at Garrick Yard,

St Martin's Lane St Martin's Lane is a street in the City of Westminster, which runs from the church of St Martin-in-the-Fields, after which it is named, near Trafalgar Square northwards to Long Acre. At its northern end, it becomes Monmouth Street. St Martin ...

. Together with Chris McGregor's

Brotherhood of Breath The Brotherhood of Breath was an English-South African big band established in the late-1960s by South African pianist and composer Chris McGregor, an extension of McGregor's previous band, The Blue Notes. History The Brotherhood of Breath i ...

, Westbrook shared the role of house-band at

Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club is a jazz club that has operated in Soho, London, since 1959. History The club opened on 30 October 1959 in a basement at 39 Gerrard Street in London's Soho district. It was set up and managed by musicians Ronnie Sco ...

. He became a key figure in the development of

British jazz British jazz is a form of music derived from American jazz. It reached Britain through recordings and performers who visited the country while it was a relatively new genre, soon after the end of World War I. Jazz began to be played by British ...

, producing several big-band records for the Deram label, with the newly formed Mike Westbrook Concert Band, between 1967 and 1969. These featured such musicians as Surman,

Mike Osborne Michael Evans Osborne (28 September 1941 – 19 September 2007) was an English jazz alto saxophonist, pianist, and clarinetist who was a member of the band Brotherhood of Breath in the 1960s and 1970s. Biography Mike Osborne was born in Her ...

and Harry Miller. The band varied in size from 10 to 26 musicians.Ian Carr, Digby Fairweather, Brian Priestly (eds), ''The Rough Guide to Jazz'', 3rd edition, 2004. In 1968 his band made their international debut at the

Montreux Festival The Montreux Jazz Festival (formerly Festival de Jazz Montreux and Festival International de Jazz Montreux) is a music festival in Switzerland, held annually in early July in Montreux on the Lake Geneva shoreline. It is the second-largest annual ...

with Malcolm Griffiths, Alan Jackson, Harry Miller, Mike Osborne and John Surman. His music was given exposure on BBC Radio, on the ''Jazz Club'' and ''Jazz Scene'' programmes on BBC Radio One, and he started to act as a presenter and commentator on new British Jazz through 1968 and 1969. He was featured on BBC TV, when ''Jazz Scene'' transferred to the BBC 2 TV service. The station broadcast The Mike Westbrook Concert Band performing 'Metropolis', based on Westbrook's impressions of first visiting London, on Tuesday 25 November 1969 at 20.45 from the Ronnie Scott Club. The British Arts Council awarded Westbrook a bursary to develop 'Metropolis' for an enlarged Concert Band, and the jazz suite was further broadcast on BBC Radio Three on Friday 9 January 1970 at 21.00. Westbrook's compositions and performances were regularly broadcast by the BBC throughout the 1970s and 1980s. 'Metropolis' was recorded at Landsdowne Studios, London, on 3, 4 and 5 August 1971 and released by on RCA Victor in the UK and Japan. A further major extended orchestral composition, 'Citadel/Room 315', featuring saxophonist

, was recorded in March 1975. The 1970s saw a wide range of different projects. ''Cosmic Circus'', jointly founded with John Fox, who was also a composer, specialised in large scale, one-off high technology shows involving high-divers, tight-rope, carnival processions and more. It was part of ''Earthrise Tour'' in the UK (May 1970 to October 1971). This included also singer/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 wordless improvisations. Musicians with whom she has worked include Michael Garrick, ...

who performed on several of the band's albums at the time.

Adrian Mitchell Adrian Mitchell FRSL (24 October 1932 – 20 December 2008) was an English poet, novelist and playwright. A former journalist, he became a noted figure on the British Left. For almost half a century he was the foremost poet of the country's Cam ...

drew Mike Westbrook in for his musical ''Tyger'' on the life of

William Blake William Blake (28 November 1757 – 12 August 1827) was an English poet, painter, and printmaker. Largely unrecognised during his life, Blake is now considered a seminal figure in the history of the poetry and visual art of the Romantic Age. ...

for the

Royal National Theatre The Royal National Theatre in London, commonly known as the National Theatre (NT), is one of the United Kingdom's three most prominent publicly funded performing arts venues, alongside the Royal Shakespeare Company and the Royal Opera House. I ...

. This would become a major influence on Mike Westbrook's work (see paragraph on later work below). In 1972 and 1973, he also worked in the context of his jazz-rock band Solid Gold Cadillac. The most consequential effect of this was the participation of

Phil Minton Phil Minton (born 2 November 1940) is a British avant-garde jazz/ free-improvising vocalist and trumpeter. Minton is a highly dramatic baritone who tends to specialize in literary texts: he has sung lyrics by William Blake with Mike Westbrook's ...

. His unmistakable voice would feature in many of Westbrook's later projects. A live performance of ''Solid Gold Cadillac'' (at the Paris Theatre in London) has been repeatedly broadcast by

BBC Radio 6 BBC Radio 6 Music is a British digital radio station owned and operated by the BBC, specialising primarily in alternative music. BBC 6 Music was the first national music radio station to be launched by the BBC in 32 years. It is available onl ...

between 2002 and 2007. In March 1977, the Mike Westbrook Brass Band,

avant-rock Experimental rock, also called avant-rock, is a subgenre of rock music that pushes the boundaries of common composition and performance technique or which experiments with the basic elements of the genre. Artists aim to liberate and innovate, with ...

group

Henry Cow Henry Cow were an English experimental rock group, founded at the University of Cambridge in 1968 by multi-instrumentalists Fred Frith and Tim Hodgkinson. Henry Cow's personnel fluctuated over their decade together, but drummer Chris Cutler, b ...

and folk singer

Frankie Armstrong Frankie Armstrong (born 13 January 1941) is an English singer and voice teacher. She has worked as a singer in the folk scene and the women's movement and as a trainer in social and youth work. Her repertoire ranges from traditional ballads to m ...

merged to form

the Orckestra The Orckestra were a 12-piece English avant-garde jazz and avant-rock ensemble formed in March 1977 with the merger of avant-rock group Henry Cow, the Mike Westbrook Brass Band and folk singer Frankie Armstrong. They gave two performances in L ...

. The ensemble performed in London and several cities in Europe, their last concert being in

Bordeaux Bordeaux ( , ; Gascon oc, Bordèu ; eu, Bordele; it, Bordò; es, Burdeos) is a port city on the river Garonne in the Gironde department, Southwestern France. It is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the prefectur ...

, France, in May 1978.

Later work

His work for the theatre began with

's ''Tyger'', a celebration of

, staged by the

in 1971. This became a vehicle for his Brass Band of the 1970s and 1980s 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''. Westbrook recorded the poem " The Human Abstract" in 1982. 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. More recently Mike Westbrook has developed the work further and it now includes an adult choir and on occasion, a children's choir at live performances. Further works of note include ''On Duke's Birthday'', which was dedicated to the memory of

Duke Ellington Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington (April 29, 1899 – May 24, 1974) was an American jazz pianist, composer, and leader of his eponymous jazz orchestra from 1923 through the rest of his life. Born and raised in Washington, D.C., Ellington was based ...

, which was reissued on CD in the summer of 2007, ''Big Band Rossini'', which was featured in the 1992 BBC Proms, and ' (2002), commissioned by

BBC Radio 3 BBC Radio 3 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It replaced the BBC Third Programme in 1967 and broadcasts classical music and opera, with jazz, world music, Radio drama, drama, High culture, culture and the arts ...

, which brings together jazz and classical musicians in the New Westbrook Orchestra. Westbrook was awarded an OBE in 1988, and in 2004 the

University of Plymouth The University of Plymouth is a public research university based predominantly in Plymouth, England, where the main campus is located, but the university has campuses and affiliated colleges across South West England. With students, it is the ...

awarded him an Honorary Doctorate of Music. Other projects include ART WOLF inspired by the life and work of the Alpine painter

Caspar Wolf Caspar Wolf ( Muri, Aargau, 3 May 1735 – Heidelberg, 6 October 1783) was a Swiss painter, known mostly for his dramatic paintings of the Alps. He was strongly influenced by Albrecht von Haller's poems on the Alps, and the Sturm und Dra ...

. In this Kate and Mike Westbrook are joined by saxophonists Pete Whyman and

Chris Biscoe Chris Biscoe (born 5 February 1947, East Barnet, Hertfordshire, England) is an English jazz multi-instrumentalist, a player of the alto, soprano, tenor and baritone saxophone, the alto clarinet, piccolo and flute. Biscoe is most notable for hi ...

. In another project the couple have been joined by four leading

Devon Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devon is ...

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 Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a historic county and ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people. Cornwall is bordered to the north and west by the Atlantic ...

area and in 2006 they performed several times at the

London Jazz Festival The London Jazz Festival is a music festival held every November. It takes place in London venues such as the Barbican and the Royal Festival Hall and in smaller jazz clubs, such as Ronnie Scott's and the Vortex Jazz Club. It is produced by Seri ...

. More recent projects include ''Fine 'n Yellow'', a piece written in celebration of the lives of Margery and John Styles, two friends who were founders of the Westbrook newsletter, ''The Smith's Academy Informer''. The piece was recorded and CD copies were given to subscribers of the newsletter. It has since had a general CD release. Kate and Mike were once again joined by saxophonists Pete Whyman and Chris Biscoe. Steve Berry played bass and

Jon Hiseman Philip John Albert "Jon" Hiseman (21 June 1944 – 12 June 2018) was an English drummer, recording engineer, record producer, and music publisher. He played with the Graham Bond Organisation, with John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers and later form ...

featured on drums. The piece received its first public performance in a concert that marked Mike Westbrook's 75th birthday at

Kings Place Kings Place is a building in London’s Kings Cross area, providing music and visual arts venues combined with seven floors of office space. It has housed the editorial offices of ''The Guardian'' newspaper since December 2008 and is the for ...

in London on 2 April 2011. The musicians at the performance with Kate and Mike Westbrook were Chris Biscoe, Chris Caldwell and Andy Tweed, saxophones; Karen Street, saxophone and accordion; Steve Berry, bass; and Simon Pearson, drums. Another work was premiered at this concert, ''The Serpent Hit'', which used the above musicians but without Steve Berry. ''The Serpent Hit'', like ''Fine 'n Yellow'', has texts by Kate Westbrook and music by Mike Westbrook. Yet another project finds Mike working with some of the finest west country musicians in ''The Mike Westbrook Big Band''. They play a number of Westbrook originals and Mike's arrangements of pieces by

and others. In 2012, the trio released ''Three into Wonderfull'', an album digitally re-mastered by

, presenting a cross-section of the group's recordings over three decades as well as previously unreleased material from the mid-1990s. The Mike Westbrook Big Band, also now known as The Uncommon Orchestra, released an album called ''A Bigger Show'' in 2016. Recorded in concert at the Barnfield Theatre (Exeter) by Jon Hiseman and Miles Ashton, it is a reworking of ''the Waxeywork Show'' originally performed by The Village Band. The 21-member line-up include long-term Westbrook collaborators such as Dave Holdsworth and

Alan Wakeman Alan Wakeman (born 13 October 1947) is an English saxophonist who was a member of Soft Machine during 1976, appearing on the album '' Softs''. He is a cousin of the keyboard player Rick Wakeman. Career Wakeman started on the clarinet at age ...

, as well as younger, rising musicians. Mike Westbrook was 80 years old in 2016 and as part of the celebrations recorded his first solo piano album for 40 years, entitled ''PARIS''. It was recorded live over two nights at Hélène Aziza's art gallery in Paris by drummer

Discography

Albums

* ''Celebration'' (1967) ( Deram) * ''Release'' (1969) UK LP has a 1969 publishing date on the label and 1968 on the sleeve, most internet sources suggest 1968 as the year of release. (Deram) * ''Marching Song – Volumes 1 And 2'' (1969) (Deram) * ''Love Songs'' (1970) (Deram) * ''Metropolis'' (1971) ( RCA Neon) * ''Tyger'' (1971) (

RCA The RCA Corporation was a major American electronics company, which was founded as the Radio Corporation of America in 1919. It was initially a patent trust owned by General Electric (GE), Westinghouse, AT&T Corporation and United Fruit Comp ...

) * ''Live'' (1972) (

Cadillac The Cadillac Motor Car Division () is a division of the American automobile manufacturer General Motors (GM) that designs and builds luxury vehicles. Its major markets are the United States, Canada, and China. Cadillac models are distributed i ...

) * ''Solid Gold Cadillac'' (1971) (RCA) * ''Brain Damage'' (1973) (RCA) * ''Citadel/Room 315'' (1974) (RCA) * ''For The Record'' (1975) (

Transatlantic Transatlantic, Trans-Atlantic or TransAtlantic may refer to: Film * Transatlantic Pictures, a film production company from 1948 to 1950 * Transatlantic Enterprises, an American production company in the late 1970s * ''Transatlantic'' (1931 film), ...

) * ''Love/Dream and Variations'' (1976) (Transatlantic Records) * ''Piano'' (1976) * ''Goose Sauce'' (1978) * ''Mama Chicago'' (2 cds) (1979) * ''The Westbrook Blake – Bright As Fire'' (1980) * ''The Paris Album'' (1981) * '' The Cortège'' (Original, 1983) * ''A Little Westbrook Music'' (1983) * ''Love For Sale'' (1985) * ''

On Duke's Birthday ''On Duke's Birthday'' is a live album by the Mike Westbrook Orchestra performing a five song suite dedicated to the memory of Duke Ellington which was recorded in France in 1984 and released on the Hat Hut label in 1985.Hathut Hathut Records is a Swiss record company and label founded by Werner Xavier Uehlinger in 1974 that specializes in jazz and classical music. The name of the label comes from the artwork of Klaus Baumgartner. Hathut encompasses the labels hat ART, h ...

, 1985) * ''The Ass'' (1985) * ''London Bridge Is Broken Down'' (2 CDs) (1986) * ''Pier Rides'' (1986) * '' Westbrook-Rossini'' (hat ART, 1987) * '' Westbrook-Rossini, Zürich Live 1986'' (hat ART, 1994) * ''Off Abbey Road'' (1989) * ''Stage Set'' (1995) * ''Bar Utopia'' (1996) * ''Love or Infatuation'' (1997) * ''The Orchestra of Smith's Academy'' (1998) * ''Platterback'' (1998) * ''Glad Day (Settings of William Blake)'' (1999) * ''L'ascenseur: Lift'' (2002) * ' (2003) * ''Art Wolf'' (2005) * ''Waxeywork Show'' (2008) * ''Fine 'n' Yellow'' (2009) * ''allsorts'' (2009) * ''Mama Chicago'' – DVD (2011) (Gonzo: Gonzo HST052DVD) * ''Three Into Wonderfull'' (2012) (

Voiceprint Voiceprint can refer to the spectrogram of a voice. More specific uses include: * VoicePrint, as of March 2012 now AMI-audio, Canada's broadcast reading service * Voiceprint Records, an English record label * The stored template used to identify a ...

: VP 557, compilation) * ''The Serpent Hit'' (2013) ( Westbrook Records: WR 001) * ''Glad Day – Live'' – DVD/CD (2014) (Westbrook Records: WR002DVD-5 / WR002CD-2) * ''A Bigger Show'' – CD (2016) (ASC Records: ascd 162/163) * ''PARIS'' – CD (2016) (ASC Records: ascd 166) *''Starcross Bridge'' – CD (2017) – (hatology 754) *''Last Night At The Old Place'' – CD (2018) – (Cadillac SGCCD016) *''Catania'' – CD (2019) – (Westbrook Records WR004) *''Love and Understanding: Citadel/Room 315 Sweden '74'' – 2LP + CD – (2020) (My Only Desire Records MOD003) *''London Bridge Live in Zurich 1990'' – CD (2022) – (Westbrook Records WR011)

Singles

* "A Life of Its Own" (1969) * "The Human Abstract" (1982) ( Original Records: ABO 8)

Bibliography

*Ian Carr, ''Music Outside: Contemporary Jazz in Britain'', 2nd edn. London:

Northway Publications Northway Books ( Northway Publications) is a publishing company based in London, UK. Northway specialises in biographies of musicians, and British social and cultural history. Its focus has been particularly on documenting jazz history in Britain b ...

, 2008,

References

External links

WestbrookJazz
– Mike Westbrook's official site
WestbrookJazz.de
– Mike Westbrook's main discography site * {{DEFAULTSORT:Westbrook, Mike 1936 births Progressive big band bandleaders English jazz composers Male jazz composers English male composers Living people English jazz pianists Avant-garde jazz pianists British male pianists 21st-century pianists 21st-century British male musicians Solid Gold Cadillac members The Orckestra members Officers of the Order of the British Empire