K A T E W E S T B R O O K voice
M I K E W E S T B R O O K piano
D U O
songs by
kurt weill
hollaender
cole porter
westbrook
Presenting Kate Westbrook, internationally acclaimed vocalist "witty, virtuosic, compelling" and "a real actress of song"; Mike Westbrook, "the UK's foremost jazz composer", big band leader and pianist. In a programme of original songs, jazz ballads and music theatre.
photo: Joss Reiver Bany
Composer/bandleader Mike Westbrook and singer/librettist Kate Westbrook first joined forces in the mid-1970's. Touring and performing worldwide, they have generated a huge variety of vocal music, from cabaret songs to opera. They have produced epic concert works based on settings of European poetry, as well as reworkings of the standard repertoire, notably the music of Kurt Weill, Friedrich Hollaender and Cole Porter.
Kate Westbrook’s repertoire embraces Contemporary Music and Cabaret, as well as Jazz and Popular Song. She has written libretti for Opera and Music-Theatre. In her recent album, CUFF CLOUT (voiceprint), as reviewed in Downbeat magazine “ Westbrook sets her witty and eccentric texts to bold and fascinating genre-crossing music.” Her latest CD THE NIJINSKA CHAMBER, celebrates the life of the dancer and choreographer Bronislava Nijinska.
Mike Westbrook has led and composed for a succession of big bands and small groups since the 1960s. His settings of the poetry of Willliam Blake, THE WESTBROOK BLAKE, have been described in The Independent on Sunday as “Perhaps the greatest work in all British Jazz.”His latest album CHANSON IRRESPONSABLE, performed by the 15-piece New Westbrook Orchestra, a group that combines Jazz and Classical musicians, is released on Enja Records.
A showcase for the zestful, powerfully dramatic vocal style of one of the UK's most individual singers, Kate Westbrook - her extraordinary impact is best savoured live." Chris Parker - The Times
Kate Westbrook emotes quite superbly, conjuring up the sense of cabaret from little more than looks, smiles and opera gloves, and a quirky series of deeply expressive personae - A continuously enthralling evening. Phil Johnson -
The Independent
Mike Westbrook is a Master of jazz orchestration. He can suggest a carnival, a ballroom, or greasy back street with a few cunningly placed notes. The full effect is awe inspiring. Dave Gelly - The Observer
Off Abbey Road Based on The Beatles’ Abbey Road album. Commissioned by Comune di Reggio Emilia for a festival in Reggio Emilia in December 1988 celebrating the music of The Beatles.
Westbrook Blake
Glad Day Composed by Mike Westbrook with texts by William Blake. We celebrate the 250th birthday of William Blake in 2007 with a choral performance of the work.
