The Beatles' 'ABBEY ROAD' album is the basis of Mike Westbrook's 'OFF ABBEY ROAD' project,- a re-creation by contemporary musicians of one of the master works of pop music. Premiered in Reggio Emilia, Italy in December 1988 as part of a Festival celebrating The Beatles, 'OFF ABBEY ROAD' was an instant success with audiences and critics.
From 1989-91 the Westbrook Band toured 'OFF ABBEY ROAD' throughout  France, Germany, Italy, and Switzerland, appearing in many of the major European jazz festivals. A particular highlight was the 1990 Montreal Festival where the Band played an open-air concert to an audience of 30,000.'OFF ABBEY ROAD' made its UK debut with two performances at the Electric Cinema in Portobello Road, London, which were filmed for German TV, Recorded 'live' at the 1989 Willisau Jazz Festival, the 'OFF ABBEY ROAD' album was released in 1990 on ENJA Record's new TipToe label.
In 1995 'OFF ABBEY ROAD' was revived, this time with vocalist John Winfield in place of Phil Minton, for a Beatles Festival in Trento, Italy. During '96 there were performances in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Italy, Finland, France and the UK. The Mike Westbrook Band, specially formed for 'OFF ABBEY ROAD', brings together some of the outstanding jazz performers associated with Westbrook's music in recent years.
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Kate Westbrook (voice. tenor horn) John Winfield (voice)
Peter Whyman,
Alan Wakeman (saxophones)
Brian Godding (guitar) Andy Grappy (tuba)
Peter Fairclough (drums) Mike Westbrook (piano, tuba)
Off Abbey Road CD information
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Samples are from a Nuremberg concert in 1996
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A rich and often thrilling performance that both transformed and burnished the original material.
John Fordham - The Guardian |
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It’s probably the most significant and exhilarating re-interpretation of Beatles music so far.
Neville Hadsley - CD Review |
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Westbrook's faithful and wonderfully good humored rendition of The Beatles' 1969 album 'ABBEY ROAD' underscores its music-hall whimsy and ravishing melodies. The Beatles purists I have played it for are as delighted as I am.
Gary Giddins - Village Voice |
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John Lennon, the most progressive of The Beatles, would have been delighted ... a real adventure on the borderlines between pop and jazz.
Manfred Schmidt - Stereo Magazine, Germany
'CD of the Month' |
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Mike’s rearrangements of the entire Abbey Road album for crazed jazz ensemble has worked brilliantly. The concert was simply outstanding, and the album is a stroke of genius too.’
Jez Ford - What Hi-Fi |
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A quirky marriage of rock, vaudeville and jazz improvisation… Westbrook finds unexpected depths in over familiar songs.’
Clive Davis - The Times |
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