Michael John David 'Mike' Westbrook (born March 21, 1936 in High Wycombe) is a highly successful British jazz pianist, composer, and writer of orchestrated jazz pieces. Events 630 - Byzantine emperor Heraclius restores the True Cross to Jerusalem. Year 1936 ( MCMXXXVI) was a Leap year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. See also High Wycombe Western Australia High Wycombe (hai ˈwɪk The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain,is a Sovereign state located Jazz is an American Musical art form which originated in the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States A pianist (/'piənɪst/ is a Musician who plays the Piano. A professional pianist can perform solo pieces play with an ensemble or Orchestra A composer (literally meaning 'one who puts together' is a person who creates Music, usually in the medium of notation, for Interpretation and Performance Orchestration is the study or practice of writing Music for Orchestra (or more loosely for any Musical ensemble) or of adapting for orchestra music composed
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Life
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. Torquay (tɔrˈkiː is a town in the Unitary authority of Torbay and ceremonial county of Devon, England. Plymouth ( is a city and unitary authority area on the coast of Devon, England about south west of London. John Douglas Surman (born 30 August 1944 in Tavistock Devon, England) is a Jazz Saxophone, Bass clarinet Lou Gare (born June 16, 1939) is an English Free-jazz saxophonist born in Rugby Warwickshire, perhaps best-known for his Keith Rowe (born March 16, 1940 in Plymouth, England) is an English Free improvisation Guitarist and painter.
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. Jazz in Britain has been performed in the country since shortly after the music's first appearance on record in 1917 The 1960s decade refers to the years from the beginning of 1960 to the end of 1969 Deram Records was a Record label set up by Decca Records. It was active from 1966 until 1979 Michael Evans Osborne ( 28 September 1941 &ndash 19 September 2007) was an English Jazz alto saxophonist, Harold Simon 'Harry' Miller (born 25 April, 1941 in Cape Town, Western Cape, South Africa - died 16 December 1983
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. Solid Gold Cadillac was a British jazz-rock group set up in the early 1970s This was released on CD in 2006 to mark his 70th birthday.
He continues to produce well-regarded jazz scores, many for the theatre with his wife, the singer/songwriter Kate Westbrook. Theatre (or theater, see spelling differences) is the branch of the Performing arts defined by Bernard Beckerman as what "occurs when one Kate Westbrook is an artist following the professions of painter and musician He was featured in the 2003 BBC documentary, Jazz Britannia. Year 2003 ( MMIII) was a Common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar.
His work for the theatre began with Adrian Mitchell's Tyger a celebration of William Blake, staged by the National Theatre in 1971. Adrian Mitchell (born 24 October 1932, Haywards Heath, West Sussex) is an English Poet and Dramatist. William Blake (28 November 1757 – 12 August 1827 was an English poet, painter, and Printmaker. 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. Phil Minton (b 2 November 1940 Torquay, United Kingdom) is a Jazz / free-improvising Vocalist and Trumpeter Minton 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. Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington (April 29 1899 &ndash May 24 1974 was an American Composer, Pianist, and Bandleader. Mike was awarded an OBE in 1988, and in 2004 the University of Plymouth awarded him an Honorary Doctorate of Music. The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British Order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by King George V. The University of Plymouth is the largest University in the southwest of England, with over 30000 students and is the fifth largest UK university based on student
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. Chris Biscoe (born February 5, 1947) is an English Jazz Multi-instrumentalist born in Pensford, Somerset, 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 Jazz Festival.
See also
External links
- Westbrook Jazz Mike Westbrook's official site
- Discography site
- discography at Discogs
- MySpace Kate & Mike Westbrook Site
- MySpace Village Band Site
Sources
For the main article please see Experimental big band. A Aardvark Jazz Orchestra Arkestra Discogs, short for discographies, is a Website and Database of information about Music Recordings including commercial releases promotionalDapyx Software network: MP3 Explorer | Ebook Manager | Zenithic