Mike Westbrook Orchestra - The Cortege Live At The BBC 1980 (2025)

The Cortège Live At The BBC 1980 is a previously unissued gem in the Mike Westbrook canon - the first recording of this astonishing suite featuring the amazing vocals of Kate Westbrook and Phil Minton and a who's who of British jazz musicians of the time.

This BBC recording which predated the studio release on Original Records is now being issued for the first time, newly rebalanced and remastered from the original recording by Brian Masterson at Soundscape, Dublin, Ireland.
A large-scale work incorporating settings of European poetry: vocalists Phil Minton, Kate Westbrook with a 16 - piece orchestra originally commissioned by Bracknell Festival 1979. Performed at concerts and festivals around Europe and at the BBC Studio, London, 25th October 1980 for broadcast on Jazz in Britain, BBC Radio 3, 5th & 12th January 1981.