Mike Westbrook - Recordings

GLAD DAY
Mike Westbrook Brass Band

All Lyrics by William Blake
Music Composed by
Mike Westbrook
Lyrics arranged by Adrian Mitchell,
except for CD1/6 & CD2/4
arranged by Kate Westbrook

CD 1

1. Glad Day (4.17)
2. London Song (7.29)
3. Let The Slave (11.25)
4. Lullaby (3.22)
5. Song Of Spring (4.05)
6. Holy Thursday (16.49)

CD 2

1. The Tyger and The Lamb (9.21)
2. A Poison Tree (2.14)
3. Long John Brown and Little Mary Bell (9.47)
4. The Human Abstract (16.43)
5. The Fields (5.08)
6. I See Thy Form (3.58)

Phil Minton - voice
Kate Westbrook - voice, tenor horn, piccolo
Peter Whyman - soprano & alto saxophones
Alan Wakeman - tenor & soprano saxophones, percussion
Chris Biscoe - soprano, alto & baritone saxophones
Steve Berry - bass
Dave Barry - drums, percussion
Mike Westbrook - piano, speech

The Senior Girls Choir of Blackheath Conservatoire of Music and the Arts.
Directed by Lucy McAlary.

Cover painting: "Glad Day" (1794)
by William Blake (1757 - 1827) © The British Museum

Recording funded by Airshaft Trust
© Enja Records ENJ 9376-2

Many of the songs in this collection derive from "TYGER", Adrian Mitchell's musical about William Blake, which was staged by the National Theatre Company in 1971 with specially commissioned music by Mike Westbrook.

By the mid 70's the Blake songs had become an integral part of of the repertoire of the Mike Westbrook Brass Band, on tour throughout Britain and Europe as well as further afield. In the course of the Brass Band's development more material was added and in 1980 the album 'The Westbrook Blake' was devoted entirely to William Blake settings.

'The Westbrook Blake' was revived in 1996 at the Greenwich Festival. The original Brass Band was brought together specially for the occasion and the programme was expanded to include further Blake texts. This was the first 'live' performance to include a choir. 'Glad Day' recorded in 1997 and featuring six pieces not on the original album, presents Mike Westbrook's Blake settings in their most complete form to date.

...Arguably the most majestic work to appear in recent years. It's marriage of Inspirational lyrics and uplifting scoring, performed by some of the most talented musicians in Europe, harks back to the jazz suites of Ellington...
THE GUARDIAN

From the opening free-flowing, joyful outburst of "Glad Day", the compassionate choral/sax cries of "Let the Slave", or the simple innocence expressed in "Lullaby", the work gradually coalesces its many juxtaposed moods and themes into a final triumphant vision with "I See Thy Form". It is a powerful musical journey, beautifully integrated and stated.
Hal Hill - JAZZ CANADIANA

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