westbrookjazz introduces The WESTBROOK SONGBOOK Kate Westbrook Mike Westbrook selected songs 1970s to 2020s
on audio and in print
each recording comes with a song copy
available to download
The song writing partnership of composer Mike Westbrook and vocalist/librettist Kate Westbrook began in the 1970s with their award-winning jazz cabaret Mama Chicago. This was the first in a long succession of touring theatre shows with their own ensembles or collaborations in Theatre, Dance, Opera and Television. They have composed original song cycles about artists, notably the oratorio Turner in Uri. Other works are concerned with contemporary issues, as in their political fable The Serpent Hit, and in Earth Felt The Wound, about the environment. Operas for the stage include Coming Through Slaughter, Jago, Cape Gloss and for television Good Friday 1663. They have generated a number of large-scale concert works for jazz and classical ensembles, involving settings of European poetry, among them The Westbrook Blake, The Cortège and London Bridge is Broken Down.
From these projects, The Westbrook Song Book aims to create a collection of individual songs. Each recording is accompanied by an arrangement for voice and piano. At regular intervals on the westbrook jazz website, song copies plus recordings will be available as a pdf for download via Bandcamp.
the Westbrook Song Book - a selection from:
Jazz Cabaret and Music Theatre
1978 Mama Chicago
1980 Les Nuits Difficiles
1981 Hotel Amigo
1985 The Ass
1986 Pier Rides
1995 Bar Utopia
1998 Platterback
2008 English Soup
2016 Paintbox Jane

Opera and Oratorio
1977 White Suit Blues
1989 Quichotte
1993 Good Friday 1663
1994 Coming Through Slaughter
2000 Jago
2003 Turner in Uri
2007 Cape Gloss - Mathilda’s Story
2015 A Bigger Show

Original Song Cycles
2002 L’Asenseur/The Lift
2003 Art Wolf
2006 The Nijinska Chamber
2009 Fine ’n Yellow
2011 The Serpent Hit
2012 Five Voyages
2018 Granite
2020 Earth Felt The Wound
2022 On Duke’s Birthday

Orchestral and settings of European Poetry
1971 Tyger/Westbrook Blake
1979 The Cortège
1987 London Bridge is Broken Down
2001 Chanson Irresponsable
piano arrangements by Mike Westbrook
edited and type set by Mike Fowler
consultant Fiachra Trench
series editor Chris Topley
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Kate & Mike Westbrook
Kate and Mike Westbrook