Internationally acclaimed composer/performers Mike and Kate Westbrook, now based in
the West Country, are joined by 4 leading Devonian musicians to form The Village Band.
The Band made its debut in early 2006 and by the end of the year had appeared in a
number of West Country Festivals, arts centres and jazz clubs. The band was featured at
the London Jazz Festival with several performances including a 'live' broadcast of The
Waxeywork Show from the Pizza Express Jazz Club on BBC's Jazz on 3.
From 2007 while maintaining its South Devon base, the Village Band has begun
to tour more widely in the UK with performances in Durham, Leeds, Cambridge
and Liverpool. The Band also recorded its first album Waxeywork Show , for the jazzprint
label.
The repertoire of The Village Band:
Waxeywork Show is an original piece for voice and acoustic brass by
Mike Westbrook specially created for the group, featuring lyrics and vocals
by Kate Westbrook.
In ‘all THAT jazz’, the Band performs Mike Westbrook’s arrangements of Classic Jazz
Instrumentals, Songs, Blues and Rags. The programme includes Scott Joplin, Duke
Ellington, Jelly Roll Morton, Thelonious Monk, Charles Mingus and many more.
A
new piece for the Village Band, “English Soup or The Battle of the Classic Trifle"
with music by Mike Westbrook and text by Kate Westbrook, was recently
premiered at the Peninsula Arts Contemporary Music Festival Plymouth.
VILLAGE BAND DIARY
The Village Band is taking a short break.
Next Gig:
Thursday August 28th, 2008
The Bridge Inn,
Bridge Hill,
Topsham
Devon EX3 0QQ
Map
The Village Band have a MySpace website where you can hear
MP3 quality sound samples and become a friend of the band.
http://www.myspace.com/mikewestbrooksvillageband
Keep up to date with information about the Village Band
by subscribing to the Village Band mailing list
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All That Jazz, was a glorious exploration of some old favourites from a remarkably vital
and cheerful Dead man blues by Jelly Roll Morton, via a moving Goodbye porkpie hat by
Charles Mingus to a stunning encore of Shipwreck blues. In between, we heard the
William Blake London song, a Medieval March, Thelonious Monk, Tadd Dameron and a
rousing Rossini overture.
With such a small group and no explicit rhythm section, ensemble work was tight
throughout, but there were also stunning solos from Stan Willis on alto saxophone, Gary
Bayley tenor saxophone, Mike Brewer trumpet and particularly Sam Smith who produced
two of the most beautiful trombone solos I've heard for a long time.
Peter Bevan - Darlington & Stockton Times |
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…finding new expressive possibilities from within the depth of risktaking
with a purpose.
Stan Willis’s alto is steeped in Johnny Hodges and Mike Brewer
trumpeter; his fulsome high notes behind Kate Westbrook on "Bessie
Blues” are pitched with unerring accuracy both to the note and to spirit.
The Westbrooks remain plugged into the zeitgeist, creating bold
contemporary relevance.
Philip Clark - Jazz Review Feb/March 08 - Editor's Choice
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All this, set as it is to Mike Westbrook's pungent, powerful music vigorously performed by
the Village Band, is flawlessly sung by the dramatic but musicianly Kate Westbrook, and
the album is completed by a set of arrangements spanning decades of recorded jazz, from
Jelly Roll Morton's 'Dead Man Blues' and Bessie Smith's 'Shipwreck Blues' to 'Monk's Mood'
and Neal Hefti's delicious 'Lil' Darlin'.
Anyone who witnessed the Westbrooks' 2006 London Jazz Festival performances will
already know how compelling their music is in a live setting; recorded in January 2007 in
Dawlish, this album provides an absorbing reminder of just how effective their unique
blend of jazz and theatrical elements can be.
Chris Parker -The Vortex |
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villageband@westbrookjazz.co.uk
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