Artist: Mike Westbrook
Album:Bright as Fire (Settings Of William Blake)
Lyrics:William Blake arranged by Adrian Mitchell
Year: Recorded January 1980, Issued on CD 1991
Genre: Contemporary Jazz
Country:United Kingdom
Michael John David 'Mike' Westbrook (born March 21, 1936 in High Wycombe) is a highly successful British jazz pianist, composer, and writer of orchestrated jazz pieces..more
Personnel:Phil Minton - vocal, trumpet
Kate Westbrook - tenor horn, vocal, piccolo
Mike Davies - piccolo trumpet, trumpet
Dave Hancock - trumpet
Henry Lowther - trumpet
Malcolm Griffiths - trombone
Alan Sinclair - tuba
Alan Wakeman - sopranino, soprano & tenor saxophones
Chris Biscoe - soprano & alto saxophones, alto clarinet
Dave Barry - drums, percussion, tympani, tubular bells
Georgie Born - cello
Chris Laurence - bass
Mike Westbrook - piano, speech
*****Reviews*****
"...Arguably the most majestic work to appear in recent years. It's marriage of Inspirational lyrics and uplifting scoring, performed by some of the most talented musicians in Europe, harks back to the jazz suites of Ellington..."
THE GUARDIAN
"Mike Westbrook makes full use of his two striking vocalists, Kate Westbrook and Phil Minton, and coaxes fervent performances from horn men Chris Biscoe and Alan Wakeman. He finds music to snatch the ecstasy of 'I See Thy Form' and desolation of 'London Song', turns 'A Poison Tree' into a blood-curdling tango. and fashions a magnificent anthem for 'Let The Slave/The Price of Experience' , Blake's great paeans to freedom, dignity, and compassion."
THE WIRE
"Perhaps the greatest work in all British jazz"
INDEPENDENT ON SUNDAY.
"Westbrook's settings are among the greatest British music of the century...bold, optimistic and inspiring".
THE INDEPENDENT.
"Bright as Fire pulls no emotional punches, Blake's visionary words matched by some of Westbrook's most trenchant writing".
THE TIMES
