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The Westbrook Trio

Kate Westbrook		Chris Biscoe
voice		saxophones
Mike Westbrook
piano

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The Westbrook Trio: I Got it Bad (and That Ain't Good)

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The Westbrook Trio: Lush Life

 

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The Trio is the longest established and most widely travelled of all Mike Westbrook’s ensembles.
The Trio’s combination of composition, song, and improvisation has been at the heart of many Westbrook projects, from the seminal Brass Band of the ‘70s to the current New Westbrook Orchestra.
From the early ‘80s Kate, Mike and Chris have continued to perform regularly throughout Europe as well as touring in Canada, Australia and the Far East. The group’s geographical and musical adventures are commemorated in their 20th Anniversary album L’ascenseur/The Lift. Observer critic Dave Gelly wrote “No one has succeeded in creating a more distinctive body of work than Mike and Kate Westbrook. Their mixture of jazz, music-theatre, poetry, street entertainment and visuals is rich and unique. That just three people can create such a variety of sounds is hard to believe"
A DVD of the Westbrook Trio in concert in St Etienne in 1993 is to be released on Voiceprint.

Kate Westbrook's repertoire embraces Jazz, Music Theatre and Popular Song as well as the work of such contemporary composers as Michael Finnissy. An original and powerful lyricist, Kate has written libretti for Opera and Cabaret. Her latest albums include Cuff Clout, a Neoteric Music Hall, in which her texts are set by eight composers from the worlds of Jazz, Rock, Pop and Contemporary Classical Music, Art Wolf, dedicated to the 18th century Alpine painter Caspar Wolf, and The Nijinska Chamber, a celebration of the great dancer/choreographer Bronislava Nijinska.

Mike Westbrook has led and composed for a succession of big bands and small groups since the 1960s. His compositions range from large scale works for jazz and classical ensembles to stage musicals, opera and experimental theatre, as well as pieces for radio, TV and cinema, He has made over fifty albums, among them Chanson Irresponsable, performed by The New Westbrook Orchestra, combining jazz and classical musicians, Waxeywork Show for his current sextet The Village Band and most recently the duo song album allsorts with Kate Westbrook.

Chris Biscoe has featured in many leading ensembles, notably Chris McGregor’s Brotherhood of Breath, George Russell's Living Time Orchestra, and the Orchestre National de Jazz, based in Paris. As a soloist Chris works in a great variety of contexts, performing and recording with the likes of Liam Noble, Ben Davis, Tony Marsh and Harry Beckett as well as the improvising group Full Monte. As a composer he leads various ensembles. His current quartet album Gone in The Air, the music of Eric Dolphy, features Chris in partnership with fellow saxophonist Tony Kofi.

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For Booking Information see our contacts page

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Reviews:

"The Westbrook Trio struck an intriguing balance between new music and improvisations, jazz, art songs and cabaret numbers – an uncommonly gripping musical experience” Kolner Stadt Anzeiger

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“Mike Westbrook is one of Britain’s most creative, experimental and daring jazz composers.” The Times

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“A prime asset is Kate Westbrook’s startlingly expressive voice, and her talent for carrying it into any area, from the moody regret of Strayhorn’s ‘Lush Life’ to the music hall parody of 'Revenge Suite’... Chris Biscoe is an inspiring and hard hitting saxophonist..” The Scotsman

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