What does it sound like?:
Recorded during a short tour of the West Country in January 1972 with, apparently yet unbelievably, one microphone at the back of the halls, this album is a thrilling document in a moment in British jazz – from the end of a five or six year period in which seemingly anything could happen in and around jazz, however progressive, and major labels would take a chance and throw a recording budget at it.
Mike Westbrook, leading a sextet from the early 60s and having struggled through the ‘R&B years’ middle of the decade like everyone else in British jazz, became known in the late 60s as the leader of a progressive big band, doffing its cap at Duke Ellington while simultaneously finding room for all sorts of avant-garde-isms and multi-media happenings.
His Decca-recorded big band works ‘Celebration’, ‘Release’ and ‘Marching Song’ of 1968-69 were followed by the jazz-pop-ish small-group ‘Love Songs’ (1970), featuring singer Norma Winstone and a guitar for the first time in the line-up (Chris Spedding). What Mike regards as the last ‘big’ work of this period, ‘Metropolis’, was recorded for RCA in 1971 – a large band plus future Isotope guitar hero Gary Boyle. It wasn’t quite jazz-rock as we might assume from that phrase, but it was most certainly progressive.
Mike was a veteran of recording, performing and broadcasting in varying formats – often, a single piece could have arrangements for quartet, sextet, 21-piece, whatever was available for a project. And only some of his projects from the fertile late 60s/early 70s were commercially recorded. That’s shown to great effect on RPM’s very recent and stunning 3CD edition of ‘Marching Song’, which includes an unreleased 1966 sextet version of that piece along with the full concert band recording of 1969 and three 1970 recordings of unreleased pieces recorded with a piano-led quartet. But I don’t have time to review it properly…
Westbrook was so taken with the simple but fabulous live recordings from the January ’72 tour – with Gary Boyle (guitar), George Khan (sax/flute), Butch Potter (bass), Alan Jackson (drums), most of them made at Kelly College, Tavistock (just think, we might have had ‘The Who – Live At Tavistock’!) – that he compiled an album and offered it to RCA. The label declined, so he started his own label with London jazz scenester John Jack, Cadillac Records, and issued ‘Live’ in the world’s dullest sleeve. The music within was magic, though. Of the five tracks, one ‘Compassion’ was a 13-minute free-jazz exercise that echoed what was going on with the Spontaneous Music Ensemble and their pals in London at the time. The rest, though, were pure, joyous jazz-rock, often building organically forom soft starts as someone builds an idea, though at least one (‘Metropolis IX’) is a pre-existing composition.
This new Hux edition uses a new sleeve – the One-Off Westbrook 5 as a Wild West gang in a Wanted poster – and has been mastered brilliantly by Jon Hiseman with Mike. Mike has provided a new note, and two hitherto unreleased goodies from the tour are added – 20-minutes-worth of an extempoisation on ‘Marching Song’ and ‘Spaces’, a beautiful, airy piece like the hazy, bucolic slow blues-jazz-rock of fellow travellers Ian Carr’s Nucleus from their first couple of albums.
The musicianship throughout (with Westbrook on electric piano) is sensational – this is real, organic ensemble playing, with people listening to each other and building communal music of real excitement. It really is hard to believe it was recorded on one mic on portable gear – it feels so rich and alive.
Heartily recommended!
What does it all *mean*?
It means we can all now buy a copy without having to hang around ebay…
Goes well with…
Whisky and a sofa…
Release Date:
Might suit people who like…
Whiskies and sofas… Isotope… Ian Carr’s Nucleus… British jazz-rock… Joyous improvisation…
Colin H says
Here’s a track from the pre-remastered LP:
Vulpes Vulpes says
*sobs*
Vulpes Vulpes says
Note to Admins:
Is there a way I can filter out all of Colin’s CD reviews from what I can see on the page?
It’s costing me too much to continue to read them.
Colin H says
The b****rd – let’s find out where he lives and put a stop to it!
er….
fitterstoke says
Birthday coming up…..sorted!
jazzjet says
Great review Colin. I really must get this CD.