Mike Westbrook - Recordings

Vol. 1, Vol. 2,
plus bonus disc

The Mike Westbrook Concert Band

Marching Song Vol. 1
1. Hooray!
2. Landscape
3. Waltz (for Joanna)
4. Landscape (II)
5. Other World
6. Marching Song

Marching Song Vol. 2
1. Transition
2. Home
3. Rosie
4. Prelude
5. Tension
6. Introduction
7. Ballad
8. Conflict
9. Requiem
10. Tarnished
11. Memorial

When Young
1. Marching Song
2. When Young
3. But It Must Get Better, And It Will Get Better
4. Original Peter (A-side)
5. Magic Garden (B-side)

Marching Song:
Mike Westbrook (piano)
Greg Bowen, Tony Fisher, Henry Lowther, Ronnie Hughes (trumpets)
Tom Bennellick (french horn), Martin Fry, George Smith (tubas)
Mike Osborne (alto sax, clarinet), John Surman (baritone sax, soprano sax)
Bernie Living (alto sax, clarinet), Nisar Ahmed Khan, Brian Smith (tenor saxes)
John Warren (alto sax, baritone sax, flute), Alan Skidmore (tenor sax, flute)
Dave Holdsworth, Kenny Wheeler (trumpets, fluegel horns)
Malcolm Griffiths, Paul Rutherford, Mike Gibbs, Eddie Harvey (trombones)
Harry Miller (bass), Barre Phillips (bass), Chris Lawrence (bass)
Alan Jackson (drums), John Marshall (drums)

When Young:
Track 1 - Mike Westbrook Sextet (1966):
John Surman, Mike Osborne (saxes)
Malcolm Griffiths (trombone), Harry Miller (bass), Mike Westbrook (piano)
Alan Jackson (drums)
Tracks 2 & 3: Mike Westbrook Quartet (1970):
Mike Osborne (alto sax), Mike Westbrook (piano)
Harry Miller (bass), Alan Jackson (drums)
Tracks 4 & 5: Mike Westbrook Concert Band with Norma Winstone (1970)

Turtle Records: TURBXM 500
This compilation: 2017
Available from Cherry Red Records

Of all the many fine British modern jazz records made in the last 50 years, the ones that probably most deserve to survive another half-century are Mike Westbrook’s large-scale pieces, including Metropolis, Citadel/Room 315 and The Cortège. In a sense, Marching Song is where it all began: released in its entirety as two LPs on the Deram label in 1969, representing a statement of scale and intent. And of moral purpose, too: this is every bit as much a portrait of the pity and horror of war as Picasso’s Guernica, making a similarly startling use of modernist techniques. This reissue also contains a third disc of previously unheard material including a nine-minute sketch of the piece recorded in 1966 by a sextet including Mike Osborne, John Surman, Malcolm Griffiths, Harry Miller and Alan Jackson — its approach very heavily influenced by Mingus — and two wonderful extended quartet tracks by Osborne with the rhythm section, making this just about an essential purchase.
Richard Williams ‘The Blue Moment”

Marching Song

Mike Westbrook Recordings

Track Listing