also featuring The Westbrook Trio Live in St. Etienne (1993)
plus Mike & Kate Westbrook Talk About Composition
Mama Chicago - The Mike Westbrook Brass Band Overture Mama Chicago Shipwrecked Sailor Song of the Rain Titanic Song Concrete
Live in St. Etienne (1993) - The Westbrook Trio Traurig Aber Falsch (Sad but Untrue) Surabaya Johnny The Sailors' Tango Saxophone Improvisation Lush Life Love For Sale Titanic Song Piove
Mike & Kate Westbrook Talk About Composition
Gonzo HST052DVD
The Mike Westbrook Brass Band Phil Minton - vocals / trumpet Kate Westbrook - vocals / tenor horn Chris Biscoe - alto saxophone Alan Wakeman - tenor saxophone Malcolm Griffiths - trombone Mike Westbrook - piano / tuba Steve Cook - bass Dave Barry - drums
The Westbrook Trio Kate Westbrook voice Chris Biscoe alto & soprano saxophones/alto clarinet Mike Westbrook piano
As the drums kick in putting the train on track Mike and Kate Westbrook land you in 1920s Chicago.
Conceived originally as an Al Capone - themed musical, Mama Chicago was re-imagined as something fresh and bold: an evening of jazz cabaret tailor-made forth e1970s Westbrook Brass Band, an affectionate nod towards authentic - period Ellingtonia, but with Westbrook’s distinctive compositional voice resounding through every note.
This 1980s film encapsulates its magic: Kate Westbrook’s sharp-suited spivs and herproto-Kylie girly whimpers, Phil Minton’s belcanto flights of fancy and a band eagerly grasping at the challenges Westbrook throws at them.
Also included is an intimate 1993 Westbrook Trio performance (Mike and Kate, with Chris Biscoe on saxophone), featuring Mama Chicago material in a new setting, and songs by Billy Strayhorn, Kurt Weill and the Westbrooks’ radical overhaul of “Love For Sale”. Cole Porter like you never heard; jazz Westbrook style.
PHILIP CLARK Journalist for The Wire and The Gramophone
You can also purchase CDs/DVDs via mail order. Please send your order and a cheque payable to "M. Westbrook" to Westbrook, PO Box 92, Dawlish, EX7 9WN.