Westbrook, Mike - Platterback (special)
SKU
23-JPVP 117
Since the mid 1970s or so, this great English composer and big band jazz leader has been working with smaller groups and performing a mix between jazz and theatre (sometimes dubbed 'jazz cabaret').
"A musical theater piece, Platterback was written by Kate (libretto) and Mike Westbrook (music) for a commission by Blackheath Concert Halls, premiered in June 1998, recorded six months later, and finally released on CD in October 2001. The plot: a man and a woman are on a train to the city of Platterback. He is a conscript going to the army camp in Platterback, leaving his sweetheart behind in the country. She is cook to the British Ambassador in the city and cannot wait to get back to her duties. They will pit together the pros and cons of rural and urban life, in the end finding some understanding of the other's position. The piece's main interest does not reside in the story, rather linear and unimaginative, but in the instrumentation Westbrook used to accompany it. Only three musicians are on-stage (and on record): accordionist Karen Street, cellist Stanley Adler, and pianist Mike Westbrook. Kate Westbrook and John Winfield sing the parts of the female and male characters. The music embraces cabaret, musical theater, and more impressionistic passages."-François Couture/All Music Guide
- LabelJazzprint
- UPC604388306022