Kate Todd

Mike Westbrook Orchestra - The Cortege (1982) {2CD Set Enja rel 1993}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 807 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 322 Mb
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© 1982, 1993 Enja Records | ENJ-9587 2
Jazz / Modern Big Band / Experimental Big Band / Modern Creative / Poetry / Spoken Word

The Mike Westbrook Orchestra's 1982 opus The Cortège, initially released as a sprawling three-disc vinyl set by Original Records (re-released on CD by Enja) and winner of that year's Grand Prix du Disque de Montreux, is an often stunning work of massive scope and an indisputable highlight of Westbrook's career. Originally commissioned by the Bracknell Jazz Festival in 1979 and subsequently performed at a number of European festivals, The Cortège is themed around the idea of a New Orleans funeral procession, from its dirges to its final exuberance, but this theme is used as a framework for excursions into territory that is pure Westbrook – namely a marriage of creative jazz orchestra and European poetry written by Federico García Lorca, Arthur Rimbaud, Hermann Hesse, William Blake, and others.

John Hollenbeck - The Claudia Quintet (2001) {Blueshift–CRI CD2004}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 375 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 161 Mb
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© 2001 Blueshift / Composers Recordings Inc. | CD2004
Jazz / Avant-Garde Jazz / New Chamber Music / Modern Creative / Drums

Releasing three quite noteworthy CDs in as many months, drummer/composer John Hollenbeck certainly made what one might describe as an "auspicious debut" as a leader. Just consider the range of styles covered in this burst of activity. No Images, Hollenbeck's initial recording from October 2001, is the most avant-garde of the three, with drums and saxophones squaring off in free jazz territory and trombones and drums accompanying the taped voice of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.; Quartet Lucy, hitting the street in January 2002, reflects Hollenbeck's attraction to the austere and spacious music of the ECM label. And The Claudia Quintet (released on the very same day as Quartet Lucy), a recording of subtlety, beauty, and a fair measure of fire smoldering beneath its surface.