Mike Batt

Two CD collection from the British singer, songwriter, musician, arranger, record producer, director, conductor and former Deputy Chairman of the British Phonographic Industry. Features 34 tracks spanning his career plus two new recordings. Having achieved substantial international success as a solo artist he is particularly known in the UK for creating The Wombles pop act, writing many hits including the chart-topping "Bright Eyes", and discovering Katie Melua. He has also conducted many of the world's great orchestras, including the London Symphony, Royal Philharmonic, London Philharmonic, Sydney Symphony and Stuttgart Philharmonic in both classical and pop recordings and performances.

Having reunited with her longtime mentor, former Wombles singer/songwriter Mike Batt, for her 2012 symphonic album, Secret Symphony, vocalist Katie Melua continues in an orchestral vein with her sixth studio album, 2013's Ketevan. Much like its predecessor, Ketevan is a languid, often cinematic-sounding album that builds upon Melua's talents as an interpreter of other people's material as well as her own songs. Having taken a creative detour to work with electronic producer William Orbit for 2010's The House, Melua once again returns to her roots as Batt's protégée. Raised in the Eastern European state of Georgia, Melua moved with her family to England when she was eight.

Piece by Piece is the second studio album by British-Georgian jazz and blues singer Katie Melua. It was released on 26 September 2005 by Dramatico Records. In the United Kingdom, the album debuted at #1 with 120,459 copies sold in its first week and to date has gone platinum four times. Georgia-born (as in the country, not the state) singer/songwriter Katie Melua found herself atop the British charts in 2003 with her breezy debut, Call Off the Search, which sold over three million copies in Europe alone. Her laid-back blend of blues, jazz, and pop with a kiss of worldbeat drew comparisons to Norah Jones, and rightfully so. She sticks to the formula on her lush, ultimately safe follow-up, Piece by Piece.

The talents of Groundhogs guitarist T.S. McPhee and songwriter Mike Batt can be heard on this 'strange' LP, the second and final release from Hapshash. The ultra rare 'Colinda' single is included amongst the 10 featured tracks. Contrary to the first album, which mainly consisted of free music, lyric poetry, Gregorian chants and Andalusian/oriental folk music, Western Flier was a crazy, high-spirited collection of old, well known folk-rock and blues material, spiced with all such currently used, individually distorted studio effects such as fuzz, feedback, phasing, etc. Simply one of the best psych/bluesy/freaked out LPs that came out in the late 60s in UK. The material is distorted and disfigured by the wealth of electronic effects.