By Maximillien de Lafayette

The "Guardian" called Mr Mike Westbrook "a giant of contemporary music". There are no limits and no boundaries to the creativity, innovative talents, genius and astonishing artistic energy of Mr Mike Westbrook  and Ms Kate Westbrook. They are simply overwhelming and magical. Probably they have done and accomplished everything which could be done, imagined,  to be seen, to be moved, composed, written, designed, produced, rehearsed, created,  existed or to exist and imagine on stage, in theater, in music, in dance and performing arts.  Nothing more or less is left to do for the Westbrooks. They have done it all, from writing dozens of scripts, films, videos, motion pictures, stage plays, hundreds of musical scores, endless  musical arrangements, conducting orchestras, producing more than 30 albums, producing and directing   numerous shows, singing virtually all styles ranging from opera to jazz to painting, visual arts, writing essays, diaries, books and touring the world.  And Lord!, they did it with class and superb high artistic quality at an international level and world-class standard!   Glad Day - Purcell room June 1999. Westbrook's settings are among the greatest British music of the century ... bold, optimistic and inspiring'. The Independent

 

Both are Great Britain's finest product!

Mr Mike Westbrook is internationally known as a piano and tuba player virtuoso,  a bandleader, an orchestra conductor, a composer and arranger. Over the years he has fused jazz with poetry ,theatre, literature,  and international visual arts. In addition,  he has enlarged the jazz concept, perimeter and dimension by incorporating a wealth of knowledge, experience and varied mosaic of multi dimensional and ethnic inspirations and foreign  influences such as rock, ethnic, folk, folkloric, European, Latin,  African, American and world music. Maestro Westbrook  was awarded the OBE in 1988. With Westbrook and Company, Mike and Kate Westbrook have inaugurated a new type of Jazz / Cabaret ensemble whose collective talents encompass a whole range of contemporary music and music theatre well depicted in a bouquet of their CDs, particularly  "Platterback" which was originally commissioned by Blackheath Concert Halls and funded by the London Arts Board. It  received it's world premiere at Kettle's Yard in Cambridge on 12th June 1998. Currently, it is available to the general public and the Westbrooks' fans via  compact discs on the new Jazzprint label.

What happened to America's music? Europe's got it!

"... albums by the likes of ... Mike Westbrook have all incorporated elements of European cultural, folk and popular traditions within jazz expression and in so doing moved jazz forward. " The Times. CONTINUES NEXT