Mike and Kate Westbrook

[sidewinder]

I would definitely check it out ! This quartet lineup is Westbrook's more usual format these days.

Interestingly, I was sat right behind Mike and Kate Westbrook at the 'Jazz Britannia' event in London recently at which Westbrook did a solo piano recital. They seemed to be enjoying the music !

[king ubu]

Thanks! I guess I'll try and go!

[sidewinder]

Give me a return flight ticket to Zurich and I'm there too !

Just been listening recently to 'Metropolis' and 'Citadel/Room 315' on vinyl. These two are probably my favourite Westbrooks, after the Derams.

[king ubu]

Give me a return flight ticket to Zurich and I'm there too !

Just been listening recently to 'Metropolis' and 'Citadel/Room 315' on vinyl. These two are probably my favourite Westbrooks, after the Derams.

Check with Easy Jet...

[A Lark Ascending]

Mike has a larger piece ready to roll as well as 'Art Wolf' called 'Turner in Uri' - "two vocal soloists, jazz & rock musicians, a 25 piece choir and the 30 strong Brass Band URI." Due in March 2006.

'Art Wolf' will be performed in some UK dates too including:

April 21st 2005 St Georges, Bristol

May 20th 2005 Kettles Yard, Cambridge

June 17th 2005 Phoenix, Exeter

Looks like your neck of the woods, Sidewinder.

*********

You might like to know that 'Love Songs' which was planned for reissue as part of the Impressed Repressed series will now not be reissued; Mike does not want it reissued for some reason. However, it is avalable as a recent Japanese reissue - I doubt if it will be here long. I've got one paddling across the Atlantic at the moment from Dusty Groove.

[king ubu]

"Turner in Uri" is great! I've got a broadcast recording of most of it (I believe the last of 7 parts is incomplete, otherwise it's all there).

[A Lark Ascending]

Yes, I'm looking forward to that one. I'm hoping he tours it in the UK - both times I've seen his orchestra have been exceptional performances, leaving key moments etched on my memory.

********

I hope the late 70s/early 80s recordings get out eventually. Mike's Deram stuff has become quite well known again thanks to recent reissues.

But I have a particular liking for thing's like 'Love/Dream and Variations', 'Mama Chicago', 'Goose Sauce' and 'On Duke's Birthday'. 'For the Record' has never reappeared either.

The solo record, 'The Cortege' and 'Bright as Fire' are all that stands of this period.

[sidewinder]

June 17th 2005 Phoenix, Exeter

Looks like your neck of the woods, Sidewinder.

*********

You might like to know that 'Love Songs' which was planned for reissue as part of the Impressed Repressed series will now not be reissued; Mike does not want it reissued for some reason. However, it is avalable as a recent Japanese reissue - I doubt if it will be here long. I've got one paddling across the Atlantic at the moment from Dusty Groove.

Thanks for the heads up, Bev. The 'Phoenix' is a favourite venue of mine so I'll add that one to the diary. Great stuff !

Edited February 26, 2005 by sidewinder

[A Lark Ascending]

I spent a year in Exeter doing my teacher training. I remember the Northcote (sp?) Theatre on campus and seeing Henry Cow at the Town Hall (I think!). I don't recall the Phoenix - probably opened since 1977.

[sidewinder]

Bev, the 'Phoenix' is in the old part of the city centre, just off Gandy Street. Building is not too old but the area is ancient (Saxon/medieval). This place hosts the main arts centre for North Devon - the recent Gary Bartz/Eddie Henderson gig was there.

Edited February 26, 2005 by sidewinder

[A Lark Ascending]

My memory of Exeter is very hazy - I've only been back a couple of times since the 70s. I recall the shopping centre (there's probably 5 shopping centres now) with...I think...a church or old medieval building stuck in the middle.

I recall where the Cathedral was.

*****

I just checked a map and can see where you mean. I think I might be thinking about the Guildhall.

Noticed Paris Street - there was a great record shop there where I bought some of my first jazz records. Might have been called something like 'The Left Bank'.

I'm long overdue for a reconnection with Devon and Cornwall!

[sidewinder]

If you can recall where the Castle was, its not too far from there. Most of the old historic centre of Exeter was totally flattened during WW2. The small area round Gandy Street survives though, with its original Saxon street plan (no room to get cars through B-) ).

Edited February 26, 2005 by sidewinder

[king ubu]

If you can recall where the Castle was, its not too far from there. Most of the old historic centre of Exeter was totally flattened during WW2. The small area round Gandy Street survives though, with its original Saxon street plan (no room to get cars through B-) ).

Hey wait a minute, did the Brits also drop bombs on Exeter during WWII?

[sidewinder]

I've got the feeling that this was part of the 'Baedeker' raids, where the German Air Force selected targets from the Baedeker tourist guides. A real shame in the case of Exeter as this had one of the best preserved medieval centres in the country, a real gem apparently. Bath got some of the same treatment but not so extensively.

Anyway ......... back to all things Mike and Kate Westbrook.

Edited February 26, 2005 by sidewinder

[king ubu]

'Baedeker' raids

[sidewinder]

Baedecker

[king ubu]

Baedecker

I obviously didn't know that expression... but knowing what "Baedeker" is I got a good laugh...

Of course I never meant to say the Brits were the only who did bombings, but that IS the image many Germans now try to set up, even if by just not mentioning their own track record, without actually denying it. Quite sick stuff going on there...

But now indeed back to Westbrook!

[sidewinder]

No problem, YRH - guess it must sound a bizarre expression in the German. I wish the whole legacy of those years had never happened. Shame with Exeter, as it is a very pleasant city indeed.

Back to the Westbrooks. Is the 'On Duke's Birthday' HatArt worth picking up? I have a prospective 'inroad' on a vinyl.. B-)

[king ubu]

No problem, YRH - guess it must sound a bizarre expression in the German. I wish the whole legacy of those years had never happened. Shame with Exeter, as it is a very pleasant city indeed.

Back to the Westbrooks. Is the 'On Duke's Birthday' HatArt worth picking up? I have a prospective 'inroad' on a vinyl.. B-)

In my opinion: yes, very much so!

Though I consider Bev and jazz1 (he's not posted for a long time, though) the Westbrook authorities here.

ubu

[A Lark Ascending]

Far from an 'authority'. But definately an enthusiast with a lot of his records.

As chance would have it I've just been making a CD-R of my vinyl copy of 'On Duke's Birthday' this morning. Well, worth getting if not (to my mind) in the top league of his output.

[sidewinder]

Thank you both for your advice. I'll probably pick this one up, its a mint copy as well. Appetite was whetted by that solo tune Westbrook played from this album (I think) at the Barbican.

Any thoughts about 'Citadel/Room 315'? I've been giving that one repeated spins the last few days and I think it's superlative. I remember hearing the last track on side 2 many times on the radio in the 1970s, not knowing what it was (I think Charles Fox used it as the theme tune on one of his Radio 3 shows). Pretty well John Surman's finest hour, I think. B-)

[A Lark Ascending]

Agree with you 100% about Citadel. I remember the first time I played it and that BBC signature tune leapt out (I've a feeling it was Peter Clayton's Sunday late night programme that used it...Fox's 'Jazz Today' used Stan Sulzmann's 'On Loan With Gratitude'*). I'd always loved it

He was still playing with jazz-rock a bit then but the whole recoring comes off superbly. It's worth trying to find a copy of 'Love/Dream and Variations' which is similar to Citadel but loses all the the jazz-rock.

The bit of 'Duke' he played at the Barbican was the theme that runs right through the 80 minutes, getting a full treatment in the last 12 minutes or so as 'Music Is..."

* One of these used the Loose Tubes tune 'Yellow Hill' as an opener for a time. Another one I couldn't trace, stumbling on it when I bought the album.

Edited February 26, 2005 by Bev Stapleton

[sidewinder]

Maybe it was 'Jazz Record Requests' that used the 'Citadel'? Strange though - I always associate it with Charles Fox's 'Jazz Today' programme. It used to go out at some crazy time such as 4.30 pm on a weekday so thanks to school I usually missed most of it ( ).

One track that I'm sure Charles Fox did use as a theme at one time was Henry Lowther's opener on 'Child Song'. It was nice to check this out again the first time I heard this album.

Charles Fox put out some mighty fine radio back in the 70s. Unfortunately, a lot of the stuff like the Westbrooks, Tony Oxley, Kenny Wheeler etc. passed me by the first time round. I was heavily into Miles Davis and Coltrane back then (still am ).

Edited February 26, 2005 by sidewinder

[A Lark Ascending]

I must admit I'm a bit vague about it. Memory tends to telescope events. I'm convinced I saw the assassination of Robert Kennedy on TV in Ireland in early 1968. He actually died later that summer. I think my brain confused MLK's assassination with the later one.

Fox was a great broadcaster. I started listening to him in 1977. My particular memory is coming in from work when I first started in 1978 and hearing him in that Tuesday afternoon slot. Whereas Peter Clayton played everything from Trad to Kenny Wheeler, Fox pushed on to the more 'out' recordings. I recall being puzzled by Anthony Braxton and India Navigation LPs on his programme.

It's one thing I think (well one of many things) the BBC is lacking at present - a regular programme covering jazz releases. The Saturday afternoon Claire Martin slot does this a bit but is pitched at a more centreground audience. There needs to be a more ambitious programme fronted by someone as knowledgeable as Fox.

Classical fans get all Saturday from 9.00 to 1.00 for record releases. Can we have an hour?

Edited February 26, 2005 by Bev Stapleton

[sidewinder]

I totally agree with you. Charles Fox had great musical taste and played some very challenging material. I remember him playing just about everything on Evan Parker's 'Incus' label when they came out. I also remember him playing quite a bit of Anthony Braxton, which resulted in me buying the 'NY Fall 1974' and 'Montreux/Berlin' Aristas. He certainly broadened the listening horizon ! I also remember that superb, scholarly series called 'The Arranger In Jazz' that he broadcast on R3, quite a bit of which I think I've still got on cassette tape.

Maybe the reason all of this is recalled in such detail is thanks to the total dearth of jazz on radio at that time other than these few programmes. I can remember tuning in to a very faint French am station one night (thanks only to radio wave reflections from the troposphere !) and hearing the whole of Miles's 'Agharta' album played. I don't think any of the UK stations gave this one airplay at the time. The French, Germans and Swiss were spoiled rotten with their radio jazz !

Edited February 26, 2005 by sidewinder