This latest album from British composer and pianist Mike Westbrook, combining two of his long-term performing ensembles, is packed with the sort of creative fire and generous bonhomie that belies his 88 years. Material riffing off words by William Blake bumps into a funk-driven piece associated with Duke Ellington. Mike’s wife, vocalist and lyricist Kate Westbrook, is in fine voice throughout, and the high-energy ensemble roars at times like Charles Mingus going hell for leather, although Westbrook’s deep roots in both English folklore and in the melodic strains of 1920s Berlin cabaret are never far away. A bracing listen; charming, too.
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No one could say that the great English composer and bandleader Mike Westbrook has settled into pipe-and-slippers mode for his late career. Although he was 87 when this was recorded and is 88 now, his latest ensemble Band of Bands is a fiercely Westbrookian outfit that shares the same passionate commitment and many of the same gifted personnel as his prolific musical past. As an arranger, he also gets an unfeasibly brassy big band sound from a smallish six piece instrumental line-up that swings like the clappers all the way.
Westbrook's Band of Bands could hardly be better titled. This is a new band comprised of master musicians that have played in many of the Westbrooks' line ups across the decades, from the street wise Brass Band to the assembled masses of the Uncommon Orchestra.
This sumptuously recorded live show sunbursts open with a joyous post-bop 'Glad Day: from the Westbrook Blake album of the same name. and includes the inevitable nod to Ellington with a dazzling re-work of Strayhorn's 'Johnny Come Lately.' That's not the obvious context for an accordion solo, but Street's contributions are formidable throughout typically reflecting that Westbrook gift for allying uncommon combinations of instruments.
The band also profits from the hard swinging, foot-to-the-floor bass/drum combo of Vergette and York. But when the band takes it down as on newer sung material like Yellow Dog: an easeful grace emerges. And only Kate Westbrook could out-Dietrich Dietrich on the wickedness of 'Black Market' with Street again outstanding.
There are virtues too numerous to mention herein, but the band's spirit is summed up in theclosing 'What I Like', a Kate lyric celebrating life's treasure of pleasure. A band for all seasons from composers with a gift for conjuring up the gladness of hearts. Here's to life.
Andy Robson - Jazzwise
The combination of Karen Street’s accordion with the twin alto-doubling-soprano saxes of Chris Biscoe and Pete Whyman is a masterstroke of casting. Each of them has been with the master for thirty years plus – almost fifty in Biscoe’s case, evidently – but their of necessity exposed front-line is wickedly effective, coaxing a bold and gloriously bluesy sound from relatively slender means. Street is particularly essential at conjuring up a thick, horn-chorus feel that somehow creates the illusion that there’s a trumpet in the line-up hidden somewhere, and maybe a trombone too. The rhythm team of Marcus Vergette on bass and Coach York on drums enhances the intensity of the front-line by grounding the gospelly wails and bluesy ornaments of Whyman and Biscoe with emphatic, rock solid time and driving momentum. It’s all a bit like Mingus, where the airy architecture of the written themes has to share house-room with the very earthy contributions of free-flowing and occasionally impolite-sounding soloists.
Recorded in concert last year at Ashburton Arts Centre in Devon – Westbrook’s home county – by engineer Matthew North and produced by Jay Auburn, the very live mix is superbly up-front and in your face. It’s also an almost indecently good value single CD that clocks in at around 80 minutes. The opening instrumental tunes set the tone, with the overture-like ‘Glad Day’ – from Westbrook’s popular William Blake-related suite of half a century ago, re-recorded and regularly re-presented since then – followed closely by the hard-blowing ‘Blues for Terenzi’ and a rollicking version of Billy Strayhorn’s ‘Johnny Come Lately’. All three sound absolutely on the money, with great ensemble passages and spirited individual solos, all guided by Westbrook’s steady hand on the piano-tiller.
The blues theme continues with the entry of singer Kate Westbrook on ‘Yellow Dog’, and she fronts the rest of the set from then on. It’s fair to say that Kate’s contributions divide Westbrook fans. Her unfailing intelligence and far-reaching range of reference – she began her career as a painter – have greatly broadened Westbrook’s vision over the years, helping to create a genuinely international aesthetic that is very rare in British jazz. But I found her expressionist version of Friedrich Hollander’s ‘Black Market’, complete with growls and whistling, seven minutes of pure torture. Then again, on the lovely closing number, ‘What I Like’, as she and the band exchange breezy call and response badinage, she sounds perfect, and perfectly Westbrookian. The song, which unpretentiously celebrates drink and fraternity, among many other things, is like an emblem of the composer. It’s the humanity, the unwavering left-of-centre commitment, and the sheer good fellowship of his music and personality that have helped to make Mike Westbrook the closest thing to an English version of Duke Ellington that we have. ‘Band of Bands’ certainly does enough to celebrate that. The recording was supported by the Airshaft Trust and the patrons of Band of Bands.
Phil Johnson - UK Jazz News
For over six decades, composer, bandleader and musician Mike Westbrook has pursued a personal vision of jazz inspired by his hero Duke Ellington. That vision rests on the life-affirming, metamorphic potential at the music's heart. Band of Bands, built upon musical friendships old and more recent, is as fine a set of performances as any in Westbrook's long career.
Several things impress immediately here. Firstly, though known primarily for their association with Westbrook, the rhythm section of bassist Marcus Vergette and drummer Coach York lends a tightness to proceedings which adds tension and drama where needed —"Gas, Dust, Stone" and "Blues for Terenzi," being just two cases in point — but an appropriate delicacy of touch when required on "My Lover's Coat." Secondly, the use of Karen Street's accordion, both as part of the rhythm section and as a front-line instrument, adds both depth and texture to the music. Thirdly, the way the composer deploys his resources gives the aural impression of a much larger ensemble. Perhaps Street's accordion is one of the factors in this regard.
Chris Biscoe and Peter Whyman are, arguably, two of the most sympatico musicians to have played with the Westbrooks. The alto sax chase on Billy Strayhorn's "Johnny Come Lately" is one of the album's many highlights. Their contrasting styles on alto and soprano make them ideal partners and their performances on "Doll's House" illustrate this perfectly. But, if forced to pick a star from this true band of bands, it would be Karen Street. The sheer quality of her playing here, whether supporting Kate Westbrook on her tour de force take of Friedrich Holländer's "Black Market" or soloing on the blues-drenched "Gas, Dust, Stone" is simply superb.
Band of Bands explodes with a joy and energy which is captivating from the opening notes of "Glad Day" to Coach York's solo on "What I Like." Band of bands and band of friends.
Duncan Heining - All About Jazz
Philip Clark - Prospect - THE CULTURE
A live album recorded in Devon last November the always esoteric - and certainly an acquired taste for many even after all these years - English jazz icon pianist, composer and bandleader Mike Westbrook rewards jazz fans' continuing interest with one of his best albums in many years oh since his co-credited work The Serpent Hit a decade ago.
Let your hair down selections include 1970s Brass Band treatments, trio work and the album draws too on the legacy of the Uncommon Orchestra. Reedist Pete Whyman, bassist Marcus Vergette and drummer Coach York complete the personnel.
While the more music hall/cabaret-esque side of the composer's work isn't of as much appeal to us as his more Ellingtonian asides, nevertheless Band of Bands distils some of the best aspects of both these and more and factors in spirited playing by Westbrook himself, saxist Chris Biscoe and Karen Street's accordion playing is once again highly listenable to. Kate Westbrook's vocals are best heard on the exuberant drinking song 'What I Like' at the end.
Now aged 88 Westbrook remains one of the most distinguished - if peculiarly elusive - English jazz icons whose appeal lies in his sheer eclecticism and inability to fit any kind of convenient pigeonholing. But Band of Bands represents a good sprinkling of some of the key aspects of his musical personality more than well and is a great place to dip in to begin a journey into the mind and music of a total one-off.
Stephen Graham - Marlbank
Mike Westbrook’s music never ceases to surprise, shock and delight in equal measures. I remember the first time I encountered Mike and Kate’s music when hearing the Westbrook Trio in Cardiff more than thirty years ago, and leaving the concert unsure as to whether I had actually enjoyed the music but convinced that I had been listening to something that was not only different but vital and alive.
Since then, I have become a firm Westbrook fan having persevered in trying to understand the music and have enjoyed the big band as well as smaller ensembles; and yes, having a particular affection for the Trio.
The axis of Westbrook’s lean and economical piano and Biscoe’s acerbic saxophone playing combined with Kate’s libretto have been at the heart of Mike’s music, and with Band of Bands we have the trio augmented by other Westbrook regulars to combine forces in a fiery septet.
Unusual for a small ensemble of seven or eight pieces to work without brass, but the combination of saxophones and accordion creates a wonderous sound that can whisper of fill out the music to give the impression of a much larger outfit. To this end, much credit must be given to Westbrook’s ingenious arrangements and Karen Street’s adaptability and virtuosity on the accordion, an instrument not to everyone’s taste but brilliantly deployed here.
The band pack some punch, and deliver from the outset with a swinging ‘Glad Day’ led first by soprano saxophone. The ensemble race along, powered by the superb drumming of Coach York before leading into ‘Blues for Terenzi’ that features some lovely touches in the intro from Westbrook on piano and the alto saxophones of Biscoe and Whyman.
This tremendous slow blues is followed by the last of a trio of instrumental pieces in Mike’s arrangement of Billy Strayhorn’s ‘Johnny Come Lately’ in which both saxophonists acquit themselves with aplomb. The rhythm section is right on the money, and yet it is Karen Street that steals the honours with both her accompaniment and exceptionally fine solo.
For the remainder of the album Kate Westbrook’s lyrics and voice are brought into play, with Kate working with the ensemble rather than the arrangements taking a diversion to accommodate the voice. Those familiar with Kate’s libretto style delivery will find much to enjoy, and the soloists are allowed plenty of opportunity to stretch out maintaining the momentum built up in the opening numbers.
Particularly effective is the rhythmic groove laid down by bassist Marcus Vergette and drummer York for Kate’s voice on ‘Gas, Dust, Stone’ that brought to mind the motifs that were used to bring Kate and Mike’s Art Wolf music to life some twenty years ago. Indeed, Kate quotes from the composition ‘Oil Paint On Canvas’ from the Art Wolf album on ‘Doll’s House’ that is performed here. Rather less successful is ‘My Lover’s Coat’ that opens with some fine piano from Mike, and some excellent playing from the band, but I must confess to being quite happy to have dispensed with the vocals here leaving the ensemble to do their thing.
For the most part, however, this is an enjoyable and engaging performance from the Band of Bands. ‘Yellow Dog’ features some more wonderful ensemble writing as Kate intones the text, and Whyman’s clarinet on ‘My Pale Parasol’ is a delight in the dialogue with piano.
‘What I Like’ is a fun way to close this live concert with Street once again taking a superb solo and a dialogue for alto and drums generating much interest. On the evidence presented here, Mike Westbrook’s writing for ensembles of any size is still as potent and satisfying as ever.
Nick Lea - Jazz Views
I want to draw special attention to the recently released Band of Bands, a live recording of a performance by composer-pianist Mike Westbrook with a gathering of long-term associates including saxophonists Chris Biscoe and Pete Whyman, accordionist Karen Street, bassist Marcus Vergette, drummer Coach York and, unsurprisingly, singer, lyricist and wife/creative partner Kate Westbrook. The set was recorded at a gig in Ashburton, Devon, in November 2023, and the album benefits greatly from the live atmosphere; the sound is crystal clear and wondrously, even urgently vibrant. It kicks off (and how!) with Glad Day, the first of three instrumentals – the last an imaginative reworking of Billy Strayhorn’s Johnny Come Lately – before Kate joins for a series of extended songs, mainly from the Westbrooks’ earlier cycle Fine ’n’ Yellow but also including Friedrich Holländer’s Black Market (originally written for Dietrich to sing in Billy Wilder’s 1948 movie A Foreign Affair). The whole thing ends, after the sobering Gas, Dust, Stone, on a more upbeat note with Kate and the band engaged in boisterous call-and-response on the delightful What I Like.
Westbrook has long been one of our greatest composers and bandleaders, and here, as often, we can hear the influence of his beloved Ellington, Monk and Mingus, but true to form this is first and foremost Westbrook, a highly distinctive musical mélange that also takes in and transcends rock, blues, ballads, Weimar cabaret, Brecht and Weill, music hall, twelve-tone, impressionism and more besides. (Did I hear a hint of calypso at one point?) The playing and interplay, as one would expect, are brilliant throughout – some of these people have been performing together for several decades – but what makes the album particularly distinctive are Kate’s singing – as eloquent, audacious, expressionist and versatile now as it was on late ’70s albums like Goose Sauce and Mama Chicago – and that idiosyncratic inclusion of Street’s accordion. This is something of a masterstroke, the instrument happily standing in for and suggesting the presence of a larger horn section, expanding the small band’s sound in remarkably satisfying ways. Now and then it even gets to sound, quite gloriously, like an accordion, and Street, along with all the others, is allowed space for some superb solos, My Lover’s Coat being just one example.
In short Band of Bands is a terrific album. You can see a short promotional video here, or you can listen to Gas, Dust, Stone below.
Notes and Observations by Geoff Andrew
Kate & Mike Westbrook
